Where They Belong
by Statchar
Summary: In the aftermath of the 4th ninja war, The survivors struggle from the loss of the war, Naruto and Hinata find comfort with one another as they cope with the deaths of Neji and Sasuke. ( NaruHina. MinaKushi in flashblacks) Rated M for safety. Artwork by junosama on deviantart
1. Prologue: A promise

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto

**A/N: If you're expecting ton of fight scenes, forget it, there might be some in the story though. I don't play the pairing game, where everyone magically gets romantically involved with another character. Revolves around Naruto's relationship with others with a focus on Hinata. I'll put as much humor as I can, so it's not so gloomy. prepare for tons of fluff.**

**Update(12/1713): Artwork added by junosama on deviantart, artist asked to link to original**

junosama. (Space) deviantart. (space )com/art/Uzumaki-Family-396820166

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Prologue: A Promise

Naruto eyes shot open in alarm, meeting darkness he controlled his breathing and took in his surroundings. It was still dark outside, he would have checked for time but since the destruction of konoha the only place available place for power would be the make shift hospital, and places that served food or anyone one that had a working generator which he did not have.

He did not have a apartment to stay in, he stayed in a tent along with many other ninja in the barren land made from Nagato's attack, away from the reconstruction of the town. He remembered the events of yesterday, he had recovered the key for his seal in hopes for controlling the kyuubi's chakra, and now he was awoken by his dreams. He did not want to remember it, so he kept it down, the dream had haunted him since Nagato's attack, he did not dream solely of it, but it kept resurfacing and It was the thing he remembered the most, He closed his eyes in hopes sleep would take him once again.

_Your smile saved me._

His heart started to pick up the pace, and Naruto bolted upright, the event replayed in his head almost too fast to stop,

_Because I-_

He was able to stop it before _It_ happened, whenever he saw it replay in his dreams, he felt something all too familiar before officially becoming a ninja. Sadness. Anger. Wiping away his thoughts before he started to brood, he took a peek outside to find the early rays of sunshine. He wanted to sleep more but quickly decided he'd rather not risk dreaming again. Naruto quickly got into his usual ninja gear and headed out his tent. As he got out he took in a deep breath, hoping to find someone to distract him from his thoughts.

He failed. No one would be up at this hour, _Except for bushy brows and bushier brow-sensei_. He thought, but were away on patrol. He ran towards his favorite place hoping to get away, He quickly got there and stood upon the hill over The Hokage monument. He hoped down to the Yondaime memorial, his father's head. Which he found out when-

"This was a bad idea" He said to no one in particular. He wanted to distract himself and it led him to a giant reminder of how he found out who his dad is.

"DAMMIT I WISH I COULD THINK ABOUT NOTHING YOU KNOW!" he yelled out in frustration. He pulled his hair for a while until he thought about sage mode. Then he face palmed, _I Can't believe I already forgot about it_. He berated himself as he quickly crossed his legs atop the 4ths head. His thoughts went blank.

Several hours later

An Alarm sounded and Hinata woke up finding herself in her room, Her clan's compound had already nearly finished reconstructing, along with others like the Akimichi and Nara, Many also helped the village of course. She quickly turned off her alarm and got ready for today, eager to help her village get quickly restored. She Got dressed in her familiar lavender attire, and quickly through the newly built halls of the compound, saying good morning to any hyuuga that was up at the time. As she exited the compound she began walking towards the town site to help rebuild.

On her way she noticed an unusual speck on the hokage monument as she got closer. Her curiosity peaked and she activated her Kekkei genkai. As she focused on the destination, her vision zoomed in and to her realization and horror a light blush spread across her face, the unusual speck turned out to be none other than the object of her affections, Naruto Uzamaki. She wanted to look away and turn off her byakugan or else she risked fainting at the idea of spying with her all seeing eyes, but something else grabbed her attention.

She noticed he was completely still, there was absolutely no movement. Her awe overpowered her embarrassed state, and she let out a giggle at the irony of the usual rowdy hyperactive ninja she loved, he was somehow still as a stone. A feat very impressive and if she was someone else would have thought it should've been impossible for someone like Naruto. But Hinata had complete and utter faith in his ability, she never doubted Naruto '_Naruto-kun is amazing'_ she thought, another blush coming up.

Then she started to notice something else entirely, Green chakra **(A/N:I'm Giving Nature energy a color)**started to form around Naruto and started to meld with his own, as it finished, she noticed a change in Naruto's chakra, It was massive and the chakra surrounded him in a cloak, It was the same as on that day of the attack. _'Does staying still have something to do with that?'_ she asked herself. But her thoughts were interrupted.

"Hinata-san Hello?" A familiar feminine voice called out beside her.

Hinata was surprised by the hand waving in front of her, knocking her out of her fixation she noticed she was standing in the middle of a street. She blushed in embarrassment at being caught looking at her Naruto, at least they didn't know what she looking at so intently. She looked to the figure attached to said hand to find Ten-ten. But she blushed even more red to find binoculars in her other hand.

"T-t-ten-ten-san!" Hinata blurted out. knowing she was caught

"Staring at Naruto-kun huh" Ten-ten smirked, she too, obviously knew of hinata's crush towards the blond ninja. "I was actually beside you for about 5 minutes before I decided to interrupt you"

Hinata blushed even harder at this, _'I was standing here for that whole time?'_ she thought to herself.

"I-i-i-i w-was j-just-" she started.

"Don't worry about it, I just wanted to save you from even more embarrassment... this place is getting a bit more lively" Ten ten interrupted. Looking around to see more people moving about in the street, they were in the middle of it and just a block behind them was the end before they met barren land.

"I mean imagine if kiba saw you like this, you were just blushing away" The brunette continued, resulting in another blush from the indigo haired teenager.

"Ummm... T-thank you, I suppose it would be lot worse it kiba-kun did" Hinata said when she recovered from being caught. Knowing kiba he would shout it out and even embarrass her more than what ten-ten did.

"You know... you really should tell him what you feel for him, because he's gonna get a lot fan girls vying for his attention" As she walked away to do her business.

Hinata knew Naruto and his history, being neglected as a child he hardly knew the emotion of love it was almost alien to him from not having any parents, much less romantic love. Hinata was willing to wait, knowing he'll respond when he's ready...hopefully. She looked upon the monument finding him gone, she couldn't help but say.

"I already did..." Her voice loud enough for only her to hear.

Naruto opened his eyes to find the town site much more lively and the sun much higher than before.

"Wow! who would've thought this much time passed" He exclaimed. Still sitting down he decided to see who was around, he entered sage mode. When he did he felt the natural energy around him, With his senses enhanced, he felt the forest full of life, the soil felt rich with insects and other life burrowing for protection, he took in a breath to find the air still had some morning dew with it. He felt chakra from all over the village and larger ones all in the camping area, along with familiar ones he knew. Naruto started with the camping areaand searched around with his enhanced senses.

_'Kakashi-sensei is with yamato-sensei...Ino's with Chougi and shikamaru, konohomaru's with his friends,_ He switched to the town site sensing no other people he knew, S_akura-chan's with baa-chan and shizune-nii-chan, Ten-ten's with-_ His thoughts cut off, _Crap...why'd I do this_. It seemed no matter what he did, his thoughts always went back to her, or led to her one way or another. _'Well what the hell am I supposed say!'_ He thought to himself, He didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want to see her sad unhappy tears going down her face as he rejected her, he didn't want to see her hurt by his enemies if they ever got together. A thought that confused him.

In short Naruto was immensely confused, Here was a girl now young woman, who confessed to him on the battlefield, He could imagine her being stuck down again by pain. Anger rose and naruto quickly beat it down, and found reassurance in her chakra that he sensed, calming himself that she was still here alive and well. He didn't want to think about it, he had to think about how to control the nine-tails chakra. Yet, how was he supposed to think of how to do so when she invaded his dreams every night and kept him from resting.

_'I should say something to her'_ He thought himself, perhaps then he could rest easy, and concentrate on controlling the kyuubi's power. _'I need to see baa-chan about my problem'_. He stood up and quickly walked down the cliff's of the monument, he went down to the where the start of the pit of nagato's attack, Still in sage mode he decided to help the village by creating hundreds of shadow clones to help the village and exhausting his sage chakra.

"OK! let's all help the village everyone!" The original naruto yelled.

"YEAH!" Hundreds of clones yelled out in unison. and all stampeded down to help with the recovery of his precious village and quickly reached the townsite. Their shouts did not go unnoticed as the villagers and workers heard their cries, as they watched the naruto clones yelling out about how they're going to help. This was met with villages appraisal, Mean while the original Naruto was on his way to go see the hokage.

_ 'Well Iruka-sensei not around and there's no way I want to see kakashi-sensei, He'll just give me one of his perverted giggles and hand me one of ero-sennin's book"_ His thoughts, danced around the subject as he neared where she was.

Tsunade was eating a sandwich, constantly eating something but slowly this time, not nearly as fast when she first woke up, she was still trying to regain her strength from waking up yesterday , she read a classified file explaining what was needed to be done. War was declared while she was out and danzo's dead, and she was supposed to meet with other kages in kumogakure, in 2 days. She finished reading the report, and now apparently Kumo was offering to train naruto in mastering the beast inside him.

"How the hell did things escalate so fast shizune?" Tsunade asked her assistant, she was by her usual place, standing to left beside her desk out of the way of visitors. "Don't answer it, it was rhetorical" she continued when she was about to speak.

Yamato built the house she was in as a temporary location, made for the hokage and any potential visitors, and to signify where the leader stayed, to keep morale up. The room was large and Sakura was seated on a couch in the right corner of the room, and the hokage obviously in the back center on the room. Important documents sat neatly on the desk, the usual village requests were outsourced, as the hokage had important matters to deal with.

"We'll have to leave this afternoon to make it to the raikage's meeting... " Tsunade called for her anbu guards "Get me Naruto Uzamaki,Yamato, maito guy and... some other random jonin you see... urgent matter"

"Yes lady hokage" The 2 Anbu guards quickly scattered to fulfill her request, but as one of the persons in question quickly barged in shouting . "Hey Baa-chan!"

"Hey I need to talk to you about something important... alone you know" He continued, a hand over his neck, in a nervous matter, eyeing the other occupants. He sent a wave towards sakura. Things were still a little awkward between them, since her confession.

"Oh really? I needed to talk to you too" Tsunade said. Ignoring the granny part _'It must be something important, if he wants to talk alone'_ She thought. Mentioning the other two individuals to leave.

"Alright Baka, what is it?" as she put a security seal to keep unwanted ears from listening in.

Naruto thought a lot about what he wanted to say to Hinata, but came up blank, he also tried figuring out his feelings about her and also met a dead end. Seeing the look of confusion on his face, tsunade tried to formulate what it was that was bothering him, whatever it was she wanted to help. She came up with a few reasons.

"Is it about sasuke?"she asked and hoped she wasn't correct and gave a relieved sigh when he shook his head. She thought about another two, one she heard from katsuyu, and another from kakashi, she decided to let naruto go at his own pace.

"Well... it's about this girl... and it's about what she told me" He started. rubbing a hand over his neck. "Well... she told me she... loved me" he finished

_"He's uncomfortable... guess that's expected... It's probably Hinata, since he's not mentioning her by name' _she thought about she wanted to say, Naruto looked at her expectantly.

"Naruto... I hope you don't expect me to figure your feelings... but perhaps I can help clarify them... considering what you did to help the village"

"No of course not...It's just that... What am I supposed to say?... or feel?... She'd be in danger if she's with me!... and I don't want to see her sad."

Tsunade looked at him, and found he was lost in his emotions, he truly did not know, He looked so confused a far cry from the usual boisterous individual who always looked at everything with such determination, but a tiny spark was still present in his eyes and he wanted to do something about it and there was another one deep inside that could be seen behind the excuses. Tsunade wondered if he knew about it, and if also if anyone ever seen him without his determination, she never did, and she never wanted to see it, as she was afraid she couldn't help.

"Well... Naruto let me ask you this... did she mean it?" If he was a normal individual she would have also asked what he would feel if her hurt or another friend hurt, but he wasn't and she was sure she get the same response. Naruto cared deeply for all his friends. she watched as he contemplated, looking for any sign, and was surprised at the number of emotions she saw.

Naruto thought about it, Her confession rang in his mind again, It repeated like a mantra in his head. '_Because I...Love you'._ He listened to her words, the way she said it in an unfamiliar way, but he could not deny the sincerity that was held with them. If only he got to look in those eyes of hers. A quick flash of anger came up when he replayed the scene when she was stabbed. He answered her question.

"Yeah...Yeah she did" He'd wanted to deny it a first but Hinata wouldn't say something like that. She wasn't manipulative.

"And... what are you going to about it?" Tsunade asked. seeing his usual confidence coming up

"Well... I'm going to promise her something today ... What it is I got no idea!"He acclaimed.

Tsunade resisted the urge to dig her face into her palms, _'He's still confused as ever'_ she thought. she looked at him, seeing a grin plastered on his face, a more organized look on in his eyes, the chaotic look receding. _'At least I helped him sort it out... a bit'_.

Tsunade heard about Sakura's confession, she was sure sakura did love naruto, but more of bond between siblings, and not in a way that naruto desired. she would have scolded her for trying to manipulate him if it another time, but she had more pressing matters to attend too, like trying to get her ninja and village to survive a damn war.

"OK... Thank you Baa-chan see you later you know!" As he started to walk out the door, seeing as there were no windows.

"Hold it!... you've got a mission but we've got to wait for the others" She said.

Naruto was back at his tent to retrieve the rest of his ninja tools, as he had to leave in a hour to go on his S-rank mission. _'No matter what, I have to find out how to control the kyuubi's chakra'_ He thought back to that awful feeling when he thought he had killed hinata and the village when he lost control. He wasn't sure if he'd ever forgive himself if he'd caused the death of a comrade, he couldn't stand the feeling. _'I'm a danger to everyone at this very second... the faster I do this, The better I can protect everyone, and bring back Sasuke'._

He looked into his pack to make sure everything was in order, he touched the familiar scratched forehead protector, reminding him of his promise of a lifetime even if he didn't have to keep it. As he grabbed the last of his gear and headed out, ready to get going, but he still had one thing left to do. Naruto's clones dispersed one by one, careful to not cause any damage to the reconstructing, he wanted to find hinata. As the memories came rushing in one by one he paid attention to find any clue to where she is. After a few minutes a new memory came, as soon as he figured out the location he quickly moved to find her.

When he found her she was enjoying a snack alone , cinnamon rolls. She was unaware that he was near, so it gave him a rare moment to observe her. She was seated on makeshift bench made out of a log, outside a bakery in a temporary food square, Lunch time hadn't came yet so the square was a bit void of people. She looked relaxed, far from what naruto usual saw her in. He jumped down from building, for a more casual approach, and yet he still had not known what to say, as he got closer he called out her name.

"Hinata..." Hinata stiffened a bit, she knew that voice anywhere, she looked towards where the voice came from, to find her beloved blond approaching her from across the street. A faint blush appeared. His voice wasn't the vigor filled voice she knew.

"I was looking for you "He finished. _'Naruto-kun's looking for me?_' She blushed a deeper shade now more noticeable. She felt a whirlwind of emotions, as he approached even closer.

"Y-y-you were?" She asked. looking for confirmation.

"Yeah I was " When he called out her name, he noticed things he hadn't paid attention too before, He watched her stiffen when he called out to her, a faint blush clashing with her pale complexion. _'Do I really affect her that much' _Her long beautiful midnight hair flowing from the wind, When he said he was looking for her, she watched as emotions dance across her eyes some he couldn't understand, Confusion, adoration, relief, fear, and another one which he couldn't pinpoint. He understood the fear, _'She's afraid of me rejecting her'_. He wasn't going too now anyway.

Naruto was oblivious to the way he understood her completely just by looking into her eyes, He stood over her, while she sitting down, her snack to the side of her, leaving it untouched.

"Listen..."Naruto for the past hour tried to find anything to say, yet nothing came up that felt right. He decided to just say whatever, like the way he's always done.

"Thank you... what you did, I'm not sure I would've won if not for you" He started, Hinata intently looking at him, she looked into his eyes and saw confusion wrought within him. She wanted to comfort him.

"When I turned into the kyuubi, I thought I had killed you... I couldn't... I can't bear any thoughts of that... even if I know you right here in front of me" He said sadly. The words he said just came out, no thought was put it in forming them, but... they felt right to naruto.

Hinata looked into his eyes, and found sadness within them, his sincerity breaking her heart. He truly hated the thought. She got up from her seat and quickly hugged naruto, her face dug into his neck with her arms wrapped around his back, comforting him.

"Naruto-kun... I'm right here" Any embarrassed thoughts were washed away, right now he needed someone. He relaxed a bit but kept talking as he hugged her back.

"I just have no idea what to say... for what you said... no one ever said that to me... I'm just so confused about it..." He continued, his voice low, his eyes almost started to moisten. His throat started to constrict, making it a bit difficult to speak. Hinata could hear the confusion and the strain in them.

"I understand...You don't need to respond right now naruto-kun... I'll wait as long as as it takes for you to be ready" She said. Her usual stutter non-existent.

"Whatever you say... I'll always be your friend" she finished, the resolve in her voice did not go unnoticed by naruto. He relaxed in her embrace, Surprised at how comforting those words were, after a few minutes he started to be aware of her closeness and stiffened at his next thoughts.

Her arms softly wrapped around him, his arms around her waist making him aware that she was thinner than the bagginess of her clothes let on, her face pressed affectionately his shoulder a smell of lavender as his chin rested over her hair, Her big soft chest pressed against his. It took a large amount of willpower to stop a blush from spreading over his face, as he gently got out her embrace. He couldn't help but think about how much he enjoyed it.

"Thanks!... You always know what to say!" A Grin spread across his face, with his eyes closed. He ignored his earlier thoughts and berated himself and blamed his sensei's for their perverse nature.

Hinata reluctantly let go, She was aware of their proximity before naruto, and when his body stiffened she assumed that was when he noticed too. A blush already present on her face when they stepped back, She noticed he wasn't looking directly at his when opened his eyes, but his smile was genuine, she faintly smiled knowing that she helped him.

When Naruto opened his eyes, he tried not to directly look at her, afraid of thinking anymore of _those_ thoughts, but when he saw her faint smile with deep blush spread across with cheeks, along her beautiful eyes and her head tilted a bit to the left, He felt something unfamiliar tug in his heart.

"Well! I got a mission to go too, I promise I'll see you later hinata!" As he walked away waving to her. heading towards the village gate, Leaving her alone to her thoughts.

"B-bye" Hinata breathlessly said. Her stutter returning. Her heart still hammering at their earlier encounter. She looked around at her surroundings and was thankful that anyone wasn't nearby. She felt giddy, with a small smile on her lips she walked away from the shop. Hoping that he'll reciprocate her Naruto slept that night, he finally had a restful sleep, unaware that he'll finally understand a bit more about love during his absence.

End Prologue

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**A/N: How do you like it? Also my first fan fiction so be as rough as you want too with your review , A Favorite/follow goes a long way also .**


	2. A Victory, A Failure

**Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, Masashi kishimoto does.**

**A/N: Except for this chapter, expect updates at least every 3 days at the earliest**

Chapter 1. A Victory. A Failure.

She held onto him making sure he wouldn't fall, She heard him whisper and Hinata was shocked at his suggestion, his head was resting on her shoulder, lazily held her with his left arm, his right hand entwined around hers, she was clutching him, holding on to dear life trying to get a hold on the multitude of emotions she felt. His body went limp and for a slight second she started to panic before light snoring was heard. She wanted him to ask to confirm what he said. She slowly kneeled down to ground bringing him down with her, to get some weight off her, after all she was exhausted too.

If the last bouts of adrenaline wasn't coursing through her at the moment, and concern for Naruto and the fact that the war ended just several minutes ago, She would have blushed deep red except it wasn't a casual setting, She looked around to see the shinobi alliance cheering at their victory, She also saw many medical ninja run through, picking up the critical injured in an attempt to save them. Equipment was quickly summoned from scrolls to help with emergencies. She was about to call for help when Hinata saw the hokage walking towards them, worry evident on her face.

"He's fine I t-think... he's just asleep, hokage-sama" Hinata said, When Tsunade got closer, She relaxed a bit at this. While hinata was still supporting him, Tsunade made some medical diagnostics on him and after being fully satisfied with it, her expression fully relaxed. Hinata Also relaxed at this, Her body had been unnoticeably stiff with worry.

"He'll be fine, just major chakra exhaustion... already recovering though unsurprisingly, Can you carry him? He'll need a place to rest" Tsunade asked. Hinata nodded, she released his hand, and awkwardly placed him on her back, his arms dangling over her shoulder and his feet dragging on the ground. She followed her lead but they quickly reached their destination after a few minutes.

A tent was surprisingly up already , a square moderately sized one, that was tall enough to stand in. Following Tsunade inside, A light fixture hung to the ceiling revealing what was inside. she looked to find two mattresses at the corners of the tent opposite from the entrance of the tent, along with white pillows and blankets, the bed reached the height of her knees, other than that the tent was empty. she walked to the bed on the right,and after Tsunade took off his tool pouch, Hinata gently lied him down.

Tsunade watched with interest at hinata, The gentleness in the way she carried him, almost in a way a mother carried her child, She lied him down with such carefulness as if he might break if she had been any rougher. Her eyes were evident with Love and worry.

Before all this, when she saw naruto deal the final blow, Tsunade saw the look in his eyes, He looked absolutely lost before Minato carried him off somewhere. When he returned back alone, he looked slightly better, a tiny spark of conviction was left as he walked off somewhere, She was confused at this and tried following him when she left shizune with sakura but when he found hinata she found her answer.

"Get that jacket off of him... It's messy" Tsunade ordered. Seeing the bloodied and torn state of it. The girl nodded, and awkwardly tried to get him out of it while still trying to be gentle. Tsunade sighed in her exhaustion her hand over her face as she tried to collect her thoughts. Being hokage, she'd have to worry about the state of the village. She'd be lost without naruto and the village would be as well. She worried about him after he had killed the person he'd been trying to get back nearly his entire ninja life. They'd won yes, but Naruto had looked like he'd just been defeated.

Orochimaru had disappeared, not before promising he'd never be seen again, Sakura had been traumatized at the event, and naruto looked just as bad as her before Minato Hiraishin'd(**Flying Thunder god )**away along with him, their heartbroken expressions had filled her with the painful reminder when she lost dan and Nawaki. _'Whatever you said to him Minato... It helped'_ She thought, and could only hope that whatever influence hinata got over him would heal him, whatever what was broken in him.

Hinata had finally gotten him out of the jacket, she was tired as she carelessly threw the jacket somewhere. She didn't want the blood to get on her, not when it didn't just have the owners blood on it. She sat on the bed, making sure naruto was comfortable, she put the blanket over him, Her eyes fluttered, and her eyes began to get heavy as she finally calmed down, knowing he was safe.

"You can sleep in here if you wish" Tsunade said, mentioning to the other mattress, she doubted the indigo haired teenager would use it, her affection was quite obvious.

"This is my personal tent along with Shizune, but you can use it" Her eyes casted a look that she would not take no for an answer. Hinata seeing this could only nod.

"If you need anything just call, and you'll get help" The hokage added before she left, And Hinata was left alone, She took out a water canteen and a clothe to wash out the dirt and dried blood left on her hands and face. Too tired to think properly she washed his face as well. When she was done she sat next to his bed, unwilling to leave his side. She clasped his right hand with hers, she lied down her head and her last thoughts were of what he proposed, and how she was going to take care for him, uncaring if he didn't return the sentiment.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw the familiar sewer-like place that was his mindscape, The events before he passed out flowing through his head. He fought them off as he didn't want to see 2 of his comrades dying before his eyes, and one of them he considered a brother. He wasn't awake yet in the real world, but his psyche was. He picked himself up from the water flooded floor and sat up, seeing the opened cage that contained Kurama, he saw his now teammate, twice as larger than he was before signifying his full power, he lied down, and a eye looking at him accusingly.

"You Fucking moron...If didn't intervene, you would have been killed...along with me" The giant fox stated. Naruto looked at Kurama sadly, depressed.

"Sorry Kurama... I guess... I don't know... really" Naruto whispered. He'd almost got killed again, like what happened last time he faced him, except there wasn't going to be next time. Ever. There wasn't a whim that time that he could count on, He didn't know why he did it honestly.

"I'm tied to you now... You're lucky I'm here" Kurama growled. " You're going to wake up soon"

Naruto didn't answer, and merely nodded. 'Pathetic' Kurama thought, thinking of a plan for nearly getting him killed.

Naruto opened his eyes truly this time, meeting the darkness of the ceiling of a tent. He looked around to take his surroundings. He was on a bed, a small blanket covered over him, He felt something graciously soft that held his right hand, and a bit of weight on his stomach, He was confused by this, and wondered who it was in his confusion. Until he recalled his very last memories until he passed out.

_ Naruto walked slowly, trudging past many of the shinobi of other villages. He hadn't noticed how exactly tired he was until now. But there was something he wanted to do, For her benefit, but his need as well. He walked around the battlefield, the sound of cheering was heard around the survivors of the shinobi alliance, He struggled to stay conscious to reach her. Naruto looked around to see different reactions around him._

_ Sad smiles graced the faces of many shinobi, A few desperate embraces of lovers, Some had their arms around comrades happy that they survived. There were very few that had destroyed expressions on their faces, as they clung to their unmoving loved ones, others weeping silently for the lost ones. Naruto was among them. He found who he was looking for. She was standing, her face down, bangs covering her face._

_ "Hinata" Hardly a whisper, and yet she heard him anyway, as she put her head up, some tears flowing down her cheeks from her lilac eyes. A question lingered within them but she didn't voice them Being far too exhausted he leaned on her for support. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her it was alright, but he couldn't even do so. He couldn't even cheer himself up. Even still he wondered how to._

_ He was far too exhausted and was fading into unconsciousness, He put an arm around her in a attempt to comfort her, unknowing if it had any effect, too tired to notice she returned the gesture. he found her right hand and wrapped it around his, His chin rested lazily on her shoulder, Tears coming down his cheek now. He found a bit of comfort being around her and wondered if she thought the same, He whispered to her, hardly paying attention to what he was saying, Wondering if she heard him before slipping into darkness._

Naruto looked at Hinata's sleeping form , she sat on the ground beside his bed, leaning on him. With her being here, he took some comfort in it. If she was here then she accepted what he proposed, and he was grateful for it. They knew the same pain of losing someone they considered a brother. After all she did for him the least he could do is help her through a death of a close one. She couldn't do it alone, nor could he. After all He didn't get this far without the help of his friends.

He unclasped his hand from her and sat up, he didn't want to admit it but he missed the feeling of her hand, this movement caused her to stir from her sleep, wondering what the movement was from, until she realized she had fallen asleep on naruto's bedside. She popped up and looked wide-eyed at naruto thankful he was awake and ignored the aching of sleeping in such aa awkward position,. When she looked at him, naruto couldn't help but stare in awe at her beauty even in her disheveled state. _'I don't deserve her, not after I couldn't save neji and sasuke', _He thought to himself sadly.

"N-naruto-kun Y-you're awake?...when?" She asked. Not missing the sadness in eyes, and wondered if he saw them in hers too.

"Just now... how long was I out? and do you know what's going on?" He asked, his voice uncharacteristically low.

She reached into a pack on the side of the bed, fiddling around for a bit until she found a watch checking the time, to see it was 4 in the evening and gave her reply

"I-I'm not sure, I heard some commotion b-before I f-fell asleep though" She replied, also clueless at the situation.

"So... I'm been out for 13 hours... and that means it's my..."He didn't finish, other birthdays were filled with loneliness, except those times with ero-sennin. But now this date would forever be a reminder of deaths of his comrades. Hinata seeing more sorrow filling his eyes couldn't bare seeing her love like this.

"H-Happy birthday naruto-kun" She said. Eliciting a response from him, he looked up at her, a sad smile appeared on his face. She somehow had a soothing presence on him. Naruto decided to he needed to get out, he didn't want to think of his failures. He got up from his bed, knocking the blanket off him, Hinata seeing what he trying to do hovered protectively over him, he sat on the side of the bed and he attempted to stand but nearly fell, before hinata caught him.

"N-Naruto-kun p-please you should rest" she stated, seeing him struggle to stand on his own.

"No.. I-I need to get out" He said. Hinata heard the subtle pleading in his voice, and nodded reluctantly, concerned for his health. Truthfully she didn't want to dawdle in her thoughts either.

"Where's my jacket?" He asked, feeling a little bare. Hinata gulped, a blush adorning her her cheeks, finally noticing he was only clad in his tight fishnet shirt, outlining his muscled frame. She was holding him up as well, It didn't help hinata that the bottom of his shirt was shredded a bit, revealing a small bit of skin. She looked away before he noticed, trying to help find his jacket. A bit ashamed that she felt like this after what happened.

"There it is" He pointed towards a corner. She helped him cross the distance, To his disappointment he found it was shredded, a visible hole, and some blood on it, not all of it his. At this realization, he couldn't wear it not with the dried blood on it, He put the jacket down. Hinata tried to control her breathing as she realized she would be helping him around like this. _'This isn't the time!'_ She scolded herself. unnoticing that naruto was looking at her.

Naruto briefly took in the appearance of young woman holding him up, Her pale lavender eyes were a bit red from crying, he noticed an odd struggle that was present in it, her cheeks were a bit flushed. He wondered if it was about him, he looked at what she dressed in, she was in her attire that he saw yesterday, only difference that her chuunin vest was unzipped, He couldn't see from his perspective. _'I wonder what it reveals when in fron- WHY THE HELL I'M I THINKING ABOUT THAT NOW!' _He yelled to himself.

"W-we should get going" he suggested. beating down a blush that was coming up.

"Y-yeah" she agreed.

She helped carry him to the entrance of the tent before she noticed her jacket, and promptly zipped it up, she didn't want anybody to stare _there. 'except maybe naruto-kun'_ she thought quickly before she quickly brushed it away before another blush could form. She put her arm back on his waist, his arm still on her shoulders. Her heart still beating strong at their closeness. They exited the tent, letting their eyes adjust to the more brighter scenery.

they were surrounded by several other larger medical tents, others being dismantled. Some ninja moving on with their business, carrying supplies. The pair decided to move, heading in a direction hoping to find anyone they knew, and wondering where they were.

"Well I see you two are finally up" a familiar voice called out from behind them. As they turned they saw it to be one-eyed jonin, his usual orange book missing.

"Kakashi-sensei... what happened while I was out" Naruto asked.

"Well, Tsunade-sama, her apprentices and most of the force decided to go back to the leaf this morning, bringing most of the wounded with them, all the kages have also gone back to their respective villages" He recounted the events since naruto was out. Leaf shinobi moving in groups to get back to their village.

"I was actually on my way to wake you love-birds up" They couple blushed at this but didn't get the chance to deny as kakashi continued. "Anyways, along with your friends and Gai, we're one of the last groups, we want to get going within the hour" He finished.

"Huh?... why didn't they go on?" Naruto asked.

"Well They wouldn't want to leave one of their comrades behind now would they?"

"T-That's nice of them" Hinata said, still trying to recover from kakashi's remark.

Naruto's stomach growled loudly enough for other ninja to see where the strange sound came from, "Woah! I'm starving... I don't remember the last time I ate" Naruto proclaimed. an embarrassed smile on his face, his free hand rubbing his neck. Kakashi smiled at this showing where the food is being cooked.

"I wonder if they have ramen" Naruto said as the pair followed the jonin. They came upon a large clearing, dozens of ninja were eating on rows of tables. They grabbed a plateful of food that was_ not_ ramen, much to the chagrin of Naruto. Hinata still, carrying Naruto hardly heard him mumble "why'd mom do this to me?" Confused she put it aside and ask later when they were alone... or something. Hinata blushed at this. They were about to set down when they heard some shouts from the side. they looked at the commotion to find lee nearly sprinting at them.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun, Hinata-san!, and kakashi-sensei!, I request your youthfulness at our table!" mentioning to a table where other leaf ninja were waiting.

The trio quickly replied quickly before Lee could go on more about youthfulness, and joined the surviving former members of team 10, 8 and Gai. They sat down with them, when they did Kiba yelled out.

"Yo Naruto!... Hanging around with Hinata I see" He teased. He got the reaction from hinata he expected, as he saw the faint blush on her cheeks, But definitely not from naruto, who instead replied with a nod, a "I guess so". The others heard of his uncharacteristic response, already knowing of the cause. Before anything else could get more awkward, Kiba decided to bring his birthday, getting caught off by Lee as soon as his said so.

"YOSH!.. It's a day of celebration!...It's Naruto-kun's birthday!" He yelled out. Catching the attention of all other shinobi when they found who exactly who it was. Lee began singing happy birthday by himself, but the other konoha ninja joined it too, along with all other shinobi in recognition of the hero. Naruto was surprised at this, and looked with wonder at his friends, and the person beside him as he heard her voice.

While they sang, he looked at hinata and thought about what they agreed upon. '_I'll take care of you, If you'll take care of me'_. He had no idea what possessed him to say those words, but he was thankful. Somehow her singing had more effect on him than the others.

As they finished and cheered, all of them glad of the distraction, a lighter mood replaced the darker one as they continued with their day bit a more cheery, all of them did it for themselves to at least subdue the thoughts of yesterday. Except for Hinata, she did it just for _him_.

**OMAKE**

**(A/N) Because the chapter wasn't as long as I thought it would be**

**_The little things_**

While Kushina was slowly eating through dinner, She noticed a few odd things about her minato, She already knew it though, he wanted to tell her something that was bothering him and it made him a little nervous, as told by the constant circling of his thumb on his left hand. It's true that Kushina Uzamaki definitely did not pay attention to a few things...'_Ok alot of things' _She reluctantly admitted, but she definitely noticed tiny details to things she cared about. Like her Minato or how big her belly got every week.

"Now tell me what's going on Minato-_sama?_" she asked. When she sat down at the table. Minato looked visibly startled as he dropped his spoon, and starting rubbing his neck. Whenever she starts with _those_ honorifics was when he started to worry. She was not beating around the bush

"Umm N-nothing's wrong honey" he started to sweat. He was reluctant to tell her,sometimes he'd be able to get out of it, If it involved classified intel. Except she'd noticed if he was lying about that, something that he cursed for, but more thankful that she'd noticed such things.

"Minato-_sama_, I've known you for a long time ya know" she started to raise her voice. After seeing a slight tremble on his bottom lip. He shuddered at the 'you know' part, she was getting riled up _'I could Imagine myself on the couch right now' _He thought. Kushina noticed his reluctance and decided to threaten him with the ultimate weapon.

"You better tell me or not going to let you touch my tummy anymore you know" she stated. Minato paled at the threat. _'What an evil thing to do'_ He thought. He immediately spilled his thoughts.

"It's just that... I've been thinking about a name for our baby" he said.

Kushina looked at him at for a moment, she could see the pleading in his eyes to touch her pregnant belly, she nodded and he quickly went to caress her belly, she could hear the whispers as he talked to her belly, she couldn't help but smile.

"Is that all you're worried about?" she asked disbelievingly. Minato nodded at this, completely serious. Kushina couldn't help but laugh loudly at this.

"I was starting to think that you set up an arranged marriage with our son to be you know" She said between her laughs.

"Hey...A name is very important" Minato replied. Kushina looked lovingly at him while he did the same.

"Well, we still have a long way to go before we decide" She said to him. "and like I said before, if you can't decide until then, I'm calling him Menma"

"You're right, maybe I should get an inspiration instead of thinking of a name for you" Minato said to her belly. Kushina smiled at this.

"But for now let's go to bed I'm tired" Kushina interjected. Minato heard this and quickly scooped her up bridal style and traversed the stairs to comfort his red-haired wife. "But...I'm sure you'll pick the perfect name for him Minato" She reassured him before they entered the bedroom.

_end_

**A/N:How'd you like the ****_omake_**** if you can call it that, I'm not sure what to call it. **

**As for other pairings, I only got one other one planned for now.**

**Please tell me if you have any complaints**


	3. About Home

**A/N: I'd like some Beta readers to help me, if anyone is interested.**

* * *

On a road back to konoha, a group consisting of Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Tenten, Lee, Maito gai, Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata, kiba and shino, and akamaru were on the move, The trek back home would take 2 days, at their speed. Walking. No one complained about it. To everyone's surprise.

"Naruto... how come you aren't begging to go faster" Ino asked. Naruto was walking behind her. A few glances were sent his way, all curious about this.

"well I'm still exhausted I could hardly support myself, It's why Hinata's helping me" He replied as cheerfully as he could. Hinata nodded in support All the others understood, He did protect everyone in the war. They couldn't help but notice his usual flair was missing

"Don't worry guys!, When I'm all better, we'll be back in konoha in no time!" he flashed a thumbs up, and smiled with a chuckle, much to the joy of Lee and gai who yelled out about how youthful he was, Everyone ignored it, but were thankful they were still themselves. Hinata looked at the spiky blond she helped carried. She worried about him , his smiles were forced, and his laughs weren't filled with his usual vigor. They momentarily locked eyes before naruto looked away. She noticed what was in them, _'He's worried about the others... oh naruto-kun'_ she thought, he was entirely selfless even while he was suffering just as much as them, he must have noticed the constant glances sent his way and didn't want to worry them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei... where's Sai and Yamato-sensei?" Naruto asked. Noticing they weren't around. Kakashi looked up front away from his orange book, as he was behind the group. He forgot naruto wasn't told yamato was kidnapped.

"He was actually kidnapped by Kabuto" Noticing the alarmed look on his face."Don't worry he's fine, Sai's team found him along with Anko Mitarashi at the akatsuki's base this morning" Relaxing his student.

"That's good... Man I can't wait until we get back, I'm going to all eat the ramen I could eat!" naruto called out.

"hmm... I think I'll join you naruto" choji added.

"Yeah! you can count me in, along with akamaru!" Kiba yelled out along with excited barking, excited at the prospect. All others happily added they would love to join as well even the lazy genius, although Ino reluctantly agreed but didn't want to be left behind, prompted by this, they all talked about what they would do when they returned home but avoiding sensitive topics. Kakashi smiled at this happy they were finally loosening up. After a while Kakashi called to set up camp after finding a large enough clearing.

Without even ordering to find supplies Kakashi looked to find some of the teenagers splitting up , Shikamaru and Choji went ahead to find water to refill canteens, Lee and kiba went ahead to scout the area, Hinata and Naruto left together to find wood for fire, He raised an eyebrow at this. He noticed they didn't separate at all today. The rest set up camp, setting up dinner and moving fallen logs for sitting comfortably. They worked together in sync.

The only thing missing was his team. Kakashi couldn't help but think about how he failed as a sensei as He thought back to yesterday.

_Kakashi ran up the hill as fast as his legs could take him, ignoring his burning lungs and aching legs. Minato had already reached the top, Sakura and Tsunade was right behind kakashi. One thing was for certain Naruto and Sasuke were fighting and the shield surrounding them had dissipated a few seconds ago. After a few agonizing seconds up the hill He saw Madara's corpse, along with another one. Sasuke's. With naruto standing over him, shaking, eyes widened with loss, regret. He heard the arrival of Tsunade and Sakura._

_ Kakashi couldn't dare look at Sakura, he didn't want too, out of the corner of his eye he saw her freeze and lock eyes before naruto had looked away. He saw minato reach his son, and hiraishin'd away. He would never forget the look on his face._

Kakashi quickly dispelled away his thoughts. He had a image to uphold he couldn't let the younger ones see their captains in such a state, They looked at the older ninja like kakashi for support if they noticed it or not. He looked at Gai, seeing a similar look to his own, They nodded to each other in recognition. They went through a war together, but now they were the older ones and they had to sustain the will of fire for the younger generation.

The night came quickly and kakashi ordered the chuunin and single genin to rest, as him and Gai would take the shifts. Kakashi was near the end of the first watch, standing on a tree branch overlooking the clearing, he looked at the young ninja surrounding the flickering dying flame of the fire, still bright enough to highlight their faces. The only sound was from naruto as kakashi found him tossing in his sleep, He was having a nightmare.

Kakashi debated on waking him up from his slumber, but before he could decide on anything, he saw movement from beside naruto. Hinata in another sleeping bag had taken to his side. Kakashi watched intently as the girl took a hold of his left hand that hung out of his sleeping bag, and watched in wonder how naruto slowly calmed down at this. Kakashi had to genuinely smile at this, it reminded him of Kushina and minato. Kushina had a fire that only minato could calm down. He looked at his student and other young ninja _'I wonder if you know, how much influence you have over them...how much she has over you'_ he thought. as he let the night go on before his shift ended.

_Naruto ran, trying to get away, but his legs and feet were reluctant to respond and he was smaller than he remembered, he did not ran fast enough to escape the darkness that threatened to consume him. Hearing the dreaded whispers behind him of how he was a demon. He denied it and the darkness suddenly lunged forward, he had no chance of escaping. Still running away, he closed his eyes hoping that it will somehow lessen the darkness, He felt himself slip away, falling. In desperation he reached his arms out hoping to find something to hold on too._

_ His hand grabbed something. It was warm, soft to the touch. He latched his eyes open to find his savior. The darkness had retreated and he found himself standing enveloped in a field. Naruto looked at the glowing figure in wonder, He had no idea who it was, but she was beautiful... almost like an angel. She filled him with courage, like he could fight the darkness, itself, her hand was around his and it filled him with such contentment. Her hand didn't stay forever but it didn't matter as she was still standing in front of him._

Shikamaru woke up to find his heart beating erratically, he quickly calmed himself after his nightmare. He remembered setting his sleeping bag above Naruto and Hinata, and Shikamaru looked curiously at the teenager in question, he had a relaxed look on his face almost filled with contentment, He looked like he was vastly enjoying his dream. _' I wished I enjoyed my dream like that'_ He thought, a bit envious of him. Shikamaru was greatly surprised at this, He saw through his facade and saw the pain in his eyes and thought he would be having nightmares left and right.

Shikamaru wondered about this and how he'd done it but he saw Hinata holding his hand, and wondered if that had anything to do with it._ 'I wonder if that helps' _A blonde girl flickered across his thoughts. _'Are you serious!, Of all the girls why'd the most troublesome come up'_. He saw movement from Hinata as she woke up. He feigned sleep hoping to not do any work like making breakfast. As time passed and more people woke up, He smelled cooking and He ignored the others hoping that none of them noticed he was awake.

"Shikamaru! I know you're awake! Wake Naruto up so we can all eat!" Ino yelled out. '_How the hell did she know I awake?' _He thought. He was hungry anyway, so he got up quickly so he didn't have to yelled at anymore, He rolled up his bag, sealing it in a scroll. He stood up and walked over to Naruto, who was miraculously still out. He debated on gently waking him up which required too much movement or kicking his head like during the chuunin exams. He decided on the latter. But was beaten when Naruto opened his eyes_._

"Oh, you're awake... good thing too, I was about to kick you awake again...food's ready too" He smiled lazily at this. Naruto chuckled at this, He watched as he got up in excitement, packing his stuff quickly, and exaggerated his sniffing and He visibly drooled at this. Shikamaru shook his head as he followed Naruto to where to food was kept. _'He must be feeling good from his dream'._

The food was kept on a log beside the fire, Naruto quickly got his plate, drooling over it. Shikamaru couldn't help but smile at his eagerness as he picked his up. He looked at the state of everyone, they were a bit more cheery, Talking more when he faking sleep. _'It's like his good mood affects everyone nearby'_ Shikamaru thought. He had to admit, it affected him too. The other ninja quickly picked up on it either unknowing or not. He took his seat beside naruto and chougi, while hinata sat on the other side of naruto.

"_Itadakimasu_!" Naruto yelled out. "Itadakimasu!" Everyone else followed. A light mood filled the eating ninja as they talked about miscellaneous subjects. After they ate and cleaned up they were ready to proceed on their way.

"Man, I feel like I can get home today! Kakashi-sensei can we go faster?" Naruto asked, Much to the excitement of Gai and Lee.

"sure... whatever you say?" Kakashi replied. After Seeing everyone riled up about this.

"Okay! let's get going!" He jumped atop a tree branch but stopped."Which way is it again?" Everyone smiled and chuckled at his usual behavior, but no remarks were made about this. After Kakashi led the way setting the speed, they ran across the branches to their home town.

Shikamaru was at the end of the group along with chougi, As much as he wanted to walk home, he had to get back to his mother... and hide dad's box. He jumped from tree branch to tree branch, and quickly decided to count the amount of how many times he did until he reached the village . He was content with this but choji decided to poke him in the side. He looked over to him to see him mentioning forward.

He looked over to see Hinata slowly jumping closer to Naruto, while Naruto who was at the front of the group slowly moving back. Shikamaru looked at them interestingly, noting that they did that until they jumping side by side. They took a look each other each like they were totally oblivious to what they did, surprised to find each other but continued to jump side by side.

"Wow... I thought they were sneaking in to do that" Choji said aloud. Shikamaru didn't respond, but he smiled at this, She certainly had some sort of influence over him. _'Knowing him, he doesn't have a damn clue'_ He thought as he resumed his counting of tree branches.

After he had counted to 817 another commotion has disrupted his thoughts.

"I smell some people headed our way, to the south approaching us" Kiba called out. Kakashi called out to halt to a stop. He gestured to Hinata to use her eyes. After a few moments of searching.

"There about 20 of them, they all appear to be jonin level a-according to what I see... a-and they're not wearing the alliance forehead protector." She reported. Shikamaru was temporary blinded by a flash of yellow and orange. He saw that Naruto had started using kyuubi's chakra.

"I sense their malicious intentions kakashi-sensei" He called out, everyone had tensed up, they were still recovering from the war, Naruto deactivated his chakra mode. _'Great... some morons trying to rob us' _The lazy chuunin thought. Kakashi ordered everyone to a clearing surrounded by trees but far enough away to dodge any projectiles and force the ninja to the clearing.

"Right let's see if we can avoid a fight" Kakashi suggested. "Get into formation and watch each other's back" he ordered. They got into their respected teams, while kakashi joined the former team 10 and Naruto joined Hinata's team, all looked towards south where the ninja approached. After a few moments, they heard some talking

"Looks like they knew we were coming"

"Must have some sensory type ninja with them"

"Look at all these kids"

"Ten of them hidden in the trees to the front, while the rest of them are flanking to the right" Hinata reported.

"who are you, show yourselves! We don't want to fight!" Kakashi yelled out.

"Looks like our flanking is useless"

"Only the weak, don't want to fight" Ten of ninja appeared in front, while another ten appeared from the right. "We're just rogue ninja who forsaken our village before they went off about this stupid war" One of the called out.

"Yea... now, you're the smallest group we met.. it was suicide if we went after the larger groups" An incredibly tall ninja cried out.

"We don't want to fight, we just want to get back to our village!" naruto yelled out. _'Troublesome... now they're going to say something that'll piss off naruto'_ he predicted.

"Shut it, you... You know what we going to do? We're going to kill all your buddies here, and take all their gear... while you watch" tallest one yelled back who appeared to be the leader. Shikamaru saw Naruto tense, and turn into the familiar tailed beast chakra mode.

Massive amounts of killing intent rolled off of Naruto, that made Shikamaru and the others shiver and it wasn't aimed at them, only Gai and kakashi didn't show off any reaction. _'it feels unnatural coming from Naruto" _He saw the enemy tense after naruto's outburst. Surprised by his unusual transformation. The konoha ninja tensed as well, already knowing of Naruto's feelings about his friends.

"I. Dare. You to say. That. Again" Naruto said through clenched teeth. Shikamaru took a look at him, to tried and rationalize his behavior. It took him a quick second to come up with something. _' If they're serious, they're dead if Naruto finds the intent in him'_

" I said... I was going to kill your friends in front of you" The man replied, a smile across his face. Shikamaru gulped at this, _'Troublesome, I could almost feel his intent and that means'_' His thought were interrupted by a flash of orange and the sound of bones breaking as the man clutched his stomach in pain, With naruto standing in front of him.

Kakashi was already moving along with gai to take advantage at their shocked expression. Shikamaru and the others after seeing this, decided to move as well. More flashes of orange appeared as naruto engaged other ninja.

"Don't ever threaten my friends!" Naruto yelled out. The rouge ninja were quickly overwhelmed at the skill the ninja were displaying, six of their comrades were quickly knocked out.

"So we're just kids huh!" Kiba yelled out. Taking out two of the ninja with his gatsuga. Within a few minutes all the other ninja were quickly taken out, sprawled around the clearing the leader was still conscious, Shaken by the display of skill the teenagers displayed. especially the blonde glowing kid, he moved impossibly fast it wasn't human. The boy stared at him, eyes sharp with rage.

"You're a monster! you don't belong on this earth!" the man yelled out. Shaken with fear at the thought of dying and how that the blond kid took out half his men with such ease.

"Shut Up!" kiba yelled, and knocked the guy out with a punch. If anything kiba was extremely loyal to his friends, and calling naruto a monster, coupled with his brash attitude he couldn't hold himself back. As they tied up the rest of the rogue ninja setting them together,Nearly all of them had been seriously injured. Kakashi summoned pakkun to alert of the alliance of rogue ninja planning to ambush rhomebound ninja and to alert of the rogue-nin here.

As they left, and continued on their way towards konoha, Shikamaru noticed the tense atmosphere of the group. _'Usually Naruto is boasting about this'_ He shook his head. _'Our mood is entirely dependent on his'_ He stared at the blond, that ran alongside him, along with hinata He seemed to thinking about things. Shikamaru had seen him in grief and was able to get his ass out of it. _'But this is different... I'm not entirely sure I could get him out of it' _He thought. If he was able to approve the mood of everyone around him, Then the pain the war caused would heal faster, but Shikamaru wasn't able to think of anthing _'Maybe a game of shougi with him will help me find me the answers.'_

While they were journeying to the village, Naruto was straining not to breath hard, light panting still escaped and he felt a bead of sweat rolling down his face, This did not go unnoticed by Hinata. "Naruto-kun a-are you alright?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked at her a debated on lying, but she would know immediately.

"I guess I haven't fully recovered yet... I'm just a bit tired that's all, It's no problem at all really" He smiled at her, eyes closed. trying to reassure her.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled out.

Naruto realized his mistake, as he slipped on the next tree branch, he spiraled as he flew through air, Hinata saw him close his eyes in preparation of the coming pain. He collided with the ground and he loudly groaned out in pain. He lied spread eagle across the ground and Hinata called the group to stop. She landed on the ground next him and heard him struggle to control his labored breathing. She kneeled beside him, concern visible in his eyes, kakashi appeared beside her.

"Look's like you pushed yourself to hard once again Naruto... How am I not surprised" Kakashi said lazily, earning a chuckle from the group. Naruto didn't answer him, as he opened his eyes.

"A-Are you okay N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked him as he sat up.

"Yeah" Naruto replied. Struggling to stand up once again. Hinata giving him support.

"Looks like you need help walking" Kakashi suggested. Observing him shakily standing on his own. "Hinata here will help you, we're pretty close to the village anyway" as he led the way once again.

They were the last in the group as Hinata helped carry him once again. His arm around her shoulders like before, She couldn't believe that even after all they've been through he had her blushing by a simple touch. As they walked, Hinata noticed he was looking down, a faraway look in his eyes as if he debating about something. She let him continue, hoping that he'll speak when he was ready. It was quickly answered.

"Hinata... I'm I a monster?" He asked, after several minutes.

"W-What?" Startled by his sudden question."Of Course Not!" she yelled uncharacteristically, prompting surprised looks over to her direction. She blushed red from her outburst and the sudden attention. They looked away after they realized they were talking privately.

"Heheh... I didn't think you could be so loud Hinata" Naruto whispered. A slight smile on his face. She could almost imagine him saying it seductively, her vision began to darken and she pinched herself with her free hand, to get back to the task at hand which was is cheer up naruto. '_what would naruto-kun think if he caught me thinking about such scandalous thoughts'_ . He looked towards the ground again but he seemed a bit better than before. She tried to think of something to cheer him up until she noticed something. Hinata knew one thing, Naruto didn't think about love when he thought about home, but now the village accepts and loves him.

"N-Naruto-kun... y-you're not a m-monster, b-because who would cheer for a monster?"she said to him. Naruto looked at her in confusion, wondering why she said that until he noticed the others were standing still. The village gates in view, but it wasn't that that surprised him. It was the massive crowd just outside the gates. The cheering got substantially louder when they saw him. All cheering for their hero Naruto.

**_Omake_**

**_Ramen brings us closer_**

Hinata gulped and she felt the heat rising to her cheeks. She would have cursed and thanked her at the same time for suggesting such a thing. She could only thing about asking such a thing but Ino had been the one to do it for her and he had agreed, saying it was no problem at all and he didn't want her to miss out. What would have caused such a situation.

Nine individuals had come to Ichiraku ramen to feast upon and dine with their blond hero, all who were close friends with him. Except there was only 8 seats, only large enough for only for one individual to sit on. Hinata was left with no seat and was about to excuse herself to leave, Before Ino had suggested to Hinata to sit on Naruto's lap. Naruto had whole-heartedly agreed, oblivious of what will happened. Ino grinned mischievously, one that can be only matched by Naruto.

When Ino Yamanaka was the first one to enter the place, she noticed there wasn't going to be enough room, and was going to excuse herself before she hatched a plan, Involving two individuals. She used her clan's jutsu to quickly tell others of what she planned, and they all quickly agreed already knowing of hinata's crush on the boy, A little Prank wouldn't hurt.

Naruto agreed with this, he didn't think of the consequences that would happen with his teenage hormones. He didn't want to Hinata to miss out either, He just wanted to eat as much ramen he could stomach. He ignored Kiba's snickers and Ino's mischievous grin that sat beside him, thinking they were laughing at some sort of joke he wasn't told, he just wanted to feast on ramen.

When Hinata shyly sat down on his lap and he turned them back to the counter. He put his head under her right arm to reach his precious ramen. It was then when he noticed the complications. He noticed the fullness of her bottom and the softness that accompanied it. He couldn't help but think of her chest that was barely touching his cheek. A certain part of him surged with activity. '_Shit'_ he thought to himself.

Hinata was deeply embarrassed , but she couldn't deny not wanting to do it, especially when naruto had consented to it. She sat down on him and couldn't help but think how comfortable it was, and they quickly turned to faced the counter, when she about to question how he was going to eat, he appeared under her right arm. Too close for comfort for her, She struggled not to black out when his face barely graze her right breast, not that she wouldn't mind if he did. '_No stop it'_ She scolded herself.

It was a bad idea. Both of them weren't thinking properly, so when hinata felt a certain something touch her thigh, hardly a little tap, she passed out, her head resting on the counter. Leaving Naruto blushing red, greatly embarrassed. Kiba couldn't contain himself anymore and roared with laughter, knowing full well the reason got it. Everyone laughed even harder, When Naruto stuttered so horribly he was unable to form any words.

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**A/N: This chapter can be best described** **as troublesome. Was hard to write and feels mechanical. I really like the next ah**

**If any you notice characters are becoming little too OOC, please tell me**

** Should the Omake become part of the story?**

**Funfact: When I was writing, I couldn't but feel I've forgotten about something. It was Sai. I'd already finished chapter when I remembered, It would be too tricky for me to include him.**


	4. The Restless

**Masashi Kishimoto owns naruto. Because I can't draw**

**A/N: I decided to slow down in my progression of the story, so it's not awkwardly paced. A different chapter was originally planned for this one.**

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Chapter 3: Restless.

A figure lied on his bed, thinking of the past several day's events. His best friend Choji was on the mattress on the floor constantly turning but sleeping, His mother-after crying her eyes out had left to the Yamanaka estate and had been there since yesterday. Shikamaru looked outside his window but couldn't see the familiar white clouds that hung over the sky. Instead he saw the darkness of the night, and the cloudless sky. He grumbled in disappointment at his unfortunate luck.

He rolled over numerously times to get comfortable but couldn't any positions he favored. His eyes a bit heavy but his mind had continuously refused to allow him sleep._ ' I doubt anyone else is having a good night...maybe worse'_. he thought to himself. _'perhaps a get together would help'. _Letting his fate capture him he got from his bed and pulled out a shougi board-playing against himself would suffice for now, but Shikamaru needed a new partner to play against.

A pink-haired teenager lay on her bed, The moon light night shone upon her face, eyes red from crying and visible tears streaks were left on her cheeks. She had worked hard on helping the wounded since the war ended but only to distract herself from the reality. The horrible reality that the person she loved was dead. She couldn't sleep as her dreams were plagued from events from which she found her teammates in.

The one she loved, the one she wasn't supposed to love had died. Killed by a person she considered a brother, their teammate. She wanted to cry again, but the tears couldn't come, they had long since dried out. She tried once again, to convince herself -That he needed to do it. She pondered once again who she would save if they both went down- She couldn't deny no matter how much she wanted to...She would save him ten times over...But he was gone. She wondered-would she ever be able to recover.

Hinata woke up in a frenzy, her heart beating erratically , her mouth opened to scream... but only whimpers came out, with tears clouding her vision she tried to activate her byakugan- in her haste she failed the hand signs twice before she got it correct. Right when she activated her clan's kekkei genkai , she desperately looked for his apartment, hoping that she'll find him. Her breathing quickened, As she struggled not to break down. When she saw naruto, she cried in her relief. She didn't care if anyone in the compound had heard her. She couldn't imagine a life without Naruto.

To her, He was the sun. He made her who she was today, him being there simply gave her courage, the will to fight. His compassion and kindness knew no bounds. His charming cerulean eyes gave off such depth, she could lose herself within them forever. She looked intently at him with her eyes, making sure he was there, as if he might fade away if she didn't. As her eyes started getting heavy and as exhaustion overtook her once again. Her love for him grew simply because, he was her strength.

_ Naruto saw a figure stand over the dead bodies of his comrades-the bodies of all his friends lied across from him, their eyes devoid of life. They stared at him and despite being empty husks their eyes accused him of his failings. Naruto cried out in anguish, pain and then rage. He stared at the figure wondering who it was it didn't mater to him whoever it was they were going to pay._

_ He ignored the bodies of his comrades, ignored what he learned about revenge, ignored the teachings of his sensei's. They only thing on his mind was avenge his fallen comrades, To feel the life drain out of the person responsible. He approached the figure getting closer and closer until he could hear their cries of pain. The figure turned around to face him. Naruto froze._

_ "You would've been just like me" _

_"NO! I'm nothing like you..."_

_ "Oh... really?... then why did you almost risk everything for me?"_

_"B-...bu..." _

Naruto gasped, raising quickly from his new bed. He attempted to make out his surroundings he tried to control his breathing and make out his nightmare. He looked around the room to take in his surroundings and the brand new furniture was given to him was not yet arranged. His torn and bloodied jacket that jiraiya bought him lay on the floor.

"Just...Just a dream" He tried to calm himself. _'But why did it feel like I was actually talking to someone'_ He thought to himself. The soulless eyes his comrades faces appeared, one of them hurt the most and he didn't understand why._ 'They're all precious to me'_ He told himself. He let it go and checked the time. Right before 7 am. _'Too early to fix all my furniture... might as well walk around or maybe-'. _He shook his head._' Hinata's okay, and she needs sleep'_.

He quickly got dressed and put on his new jacket, It was identical to the one jiraiya gave him- colors and all. He walked out of his apartment, which revealed konoha and he went over Lee's place to see if he there knowing he'd be up, he thought Lee would definitely be there but after a few knocks it seemed it wasn't the case. He went down the stairs to wander the streets, The new apartment complex he lived in was 2 stories high, with 3 rooms on each floor. With Naruto's being closer to the stairs on the left side and Lee being in the middle.

Any attempts to find someone he knew were fruitless, he avoided any civilians that wanted his autograph, saying that he was incredibly busy with something. His thoughts were still plagued by his nightmares and after not finding anyone he went to the nearest training ground hoping that training will distract him, He knew his friends will be alright, so he resisted the urge to check up on them no matter how much he wanted too. He arrived at one of the grounds and got to work.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open, she turned to the alarm clock to on her stand to find that she woke up quite late. It was already noon. She would've a thought someone might have woken her up before then but she was grateful. She lazily got out of bed, as she did not have a good rest. Far from it. She wanted to see Naruto and hoped to spend the day with him as she hadn't seen him at all yesterday. Whether he knew it or not, he needed someone to be there for him. It wasn't the entire reason, for she had promised herself she would be by his side, She knew it was a bit selfish.

She went to her personal bathroom in the back of her room beside her bed. she washed her face, to get rid of her tear-stained face and flushed eyes. Once she was satisfied, She quickly took off her nightgown to put on her usual attire with her favorite lavender jacket, She was glad to be out of her chuunin jacket and the gear she wore in the war, as she hid them away somewhere. Once she was ready, she quickly exited the compound without eating breakfast. She headed towards inchiraku's hoping to find naruto there.

Hiashi Hyuuga watched his daughter leave, Her shoulders hung low and she looked to the ground avoiding any gazes, Her quick steps were contrasting her body language as she crossed her arms as to guard herself. He heard her crying last night but left her alone as he thought he would make it worse. Their relationship was still strained and He was greatly ashamed of how he treated her when she was young. Like others his age he already knew of the horrors of war, and it was his then wife that helped him through it. Hiashi would have told her this but he saw her with the uzumaki boy. He hoped he could help her where he could not.

_'Ok I shouldn't have did that so fast' _Naruto thought to himself, as he headed towards ichiraku. he wasn't quite sure what he could train to do now, quite simply naruto had already mastered a one-handed rasengan. With the help of Kurama he created three thousand shadow clones which had helped quite a bit , getting more than a years' worth of training in 4 hours. He decided on getting inchiraku's to celebrate-he was hungry anyway. _'I should get Hinata to come with me'. _The Hyuuga compound was past Ichiraku's, but he could wait at least a few minutes. _'At least it's a great day'_ after seeing the bright sun, some stray clouds hung overhead.

Iruka stood outside his favorite student's restaurant. It was normally about that time he would be around. Everything wasn't normal though and Iruka doubted he would even be here today. _'I wonder how he is, he took master-Jiraiya's death pretty hard but...'_ He shook his thoughts away as he watched the villagers moved about their business. Some moved with strained eyes trying to hold back with their loss. While others moved with hardened expressions.

He saw the familiar orange from his student as he appeared. Iruka was about to call out for him until he noticed the way he moved. His jaw was clenched, and he looked lost in thought. His steps were stoic and mechanical. His thumbs were in his pockets but his fists were clenched. He started to walk past Ichiraku which surprised him. He yelled out his name hoping to get his attention.

"Hey Naruto! over here!" Iruka called to him. He turned to face caller and a spark of recognition as he saw who called out. He saw his shoulders relax slightly but hardly much, iruka ignored this as he approached.

"Hey Iruka-sensei" He called lowly compared to his usual loudness. A fake and tense smile grew from said student. Iruka almost flinched at his change in demeanor.

"You wanna get some ramen together? It's been a while-on me" Iruka asked. He saw him look to left tensely where he was headed. He looked like he was debating on whether or not to eat ramen. Which was absurd for naruto to even think about since it was free

"Uh- Sure Iruka sensei" Naruto said. Almost hesitantly. They slid the door to the shop and walked into the ramen shop, It was empty as they sat on the free seats. Iruka wasn't sure how to break the awful silence that accompanied it. Luckily Teuchi, the owner broke it as he came in.

"Hey there Naruto, I see you back from last time" said as he laughed.

"Uh- Yeah old man" he replied as he nervously scratched his neck. Iruka was a bit puzzled by this.

"What happened?" As they ordered their usuals.

"N-nothing to be worried about Iruka-sensei" he uttered quickly. Iruka decided to let it go but he could've sworn he saw a blush on naruto for a quick moment. He shook his head at that, _'An embarrassed Naruto? HAH'_. They continued eating their first bowl, He looked back at Naruto but still saw the tense atmosphere around him. He doubted he could go any further without bringing up any unwanted things, naruto needed to proceed on his own way for a while. The door slid open signalling a new arrival.

"Naruto-kun?" A shy feminine voice called out which sounded familiar. Both Iruka and Naruto turned around to find Hinata. Iruka was delighted to find two his former students around and was about to welcome her, when he noticed both students stared at each other for quiet moment like they were taking each other in. They quickly got out of their small trance.

"What's up Hinata! -Come eat some ramen we just started" Naruto announced. She nodded at this, thankful and went to take a seat beside Naruto.

"so how are you today hinata?" Iruka asked.

"Umm- I'm doing fine now Iruka-sensei" He spotted a quick look towards naruto.

"I see-That's good" He already knew of her feelings

"Yeah Hinata that's good! I'm glad you're here" Naruto spoke. A blush appeared on hinata. Iruka noticed his body language, he seemed more relaxed than before as he shoulder's were back to normal, and was speaking a bit louder _'Is it because of hinata?' _Iruka thought.

"Oh It's you again" As Teuchi entered back from behind the shop, along with Ayame, The individuals attention centered to him. "You see that's there enough room this time" He bellowed a loud laugh at this. Iruka turned to the teenagers curious for the answer, he found both them blushing from their reminder. _'Woah'_ after seeing naruto blush.

_ "_Ju-just get h-her some ramen old man!" Naruto yelled out, trying to steer the conversation away.

"Why? what happened?" Iruka asked the owner. He was definitely curious as to what occurred that would make Naruto blush and stutter.

"N-NO! Don't do it old man!" Naruto pleaded. Teuchi merely chuckled at this, he was going to tell iruka no matter what. "I SWEAR I'll never eat your ramen ever again if you tell him!" Naruto threatened. _Now_ Iruka was _very_ interested, he was going to let it go but seeing naruto desperately plead and threaten to stop eating inchiraku ramen was too good to pass.

"So... where will you get your ramen fix then huh Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked. Giggling when Naruto had no answer and at Hinata who was blushing furiously in her embarrassment. Teuchi retold the event of what transpired to Iruka, much to the horror of both the teenagers. Iruka couldn't stop laughing throughout the tale.

After a few minutes Iruka's laughter finally ceded but chuckles still escaped from him whenever he looked at the embarrassed teens. He definitely needed that laugh _'It's been a while'_ He thought to himself. Naruto and Hinata couldn't bear to even look at each other but they kept stealing glances at one another. _'They're good for one another'_ Iruka decided.

"Well!" Iruka acclaimed, as he slammed money on the counter paying for the few bowls they had. "I think It's time I go-Have to check a few things"

"Huh?! but you weren't here long Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said questioned.

"I know but I have to start sorting out school things when it starts next week" Iruka explained. Naruto seemed to have bought it. It was true enough, since pain's invasion and the war, the academy had been out for too long. The paperwork was small enough, but he wanted to leave Hinata and Naruto to themselves. After hearing their goodbyes he walked out the door.

Shikamaru thought about the get together, He wished he could get it done today, but the only capable time was tomorrow. He wanted everyone back to normal as fast as possible _'Very soon we're going to be sensei's...can't let the kids see us like this'_ Shikamaru wondered if in the next few months-when things settled down would he be recognized on the streets?

He walked along to ichiraku's the most likely place where naruto was. Shikamaru had thought about a lot of possibilities to try and get everybody back on their feet as fast as possible, Including himself. He thought long and hard about it but the only solution that had the possibility of succeeding included Naruto as the main plan. A shiver went up spine-Besides... he couldn't imagine himself acting like a dumb ass trying to cheer everyone up-Even Naruto, the way he was right now had more charisma than him. Even then Shikamaru wasn't even sure his 'plan' would work as emotion were tricky, everyone was vulnerable. Getting Naruto back to normal would be the best bet.

He arrived at ichirakus, finally. He slid the door open to find Naruto, devastating ramen bowls one after the other, while Hinata slowly ate her ramen in a courteous matter. Shikarmaru sighed, He wondered if things would get worse after the war ceremony in two days, might as well try to lift their spirits up before it happens.

"Yo Naruto, Hinata" Shikamaru called out. Said couple had turned to look at him.

"oh-Good afternoon shikamaru-kun" Hinata replied.

" what's up Shikamaru" Naruto called out. After loudly slurping his noodles. "What'cha need?" before delving back into his noodles.

"Tomorrow we're having a get together with everyone from our group, be there" He wanted to get it over as soon as possible, no beating around the bush for him. Choji had been sent to ask Kiba, Shino and Sai, Ino went to ask the kunoichi. While he was sent for Naruto and Lee, since they lived right next to each other. He had already had told lee.

"Really that's nice" Naruto said. Grabbing another bite of ramen

"Be at the BBQ at 5 tomorrow-Good luck with your date" With that shikamaru had walked out. He began walking to a training ground, he looked up to the white clouds in anticipation. Ino had looked disastrous when he came over to her house, the usual flare in her eyes had looked subdued and had been red but slightly hidden by make-up. _'Some will recover faster than others... but still all this will be so troublesome'_.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, recovering from choking on his ramen.

"Y-Yes naruto-kun?"blushing from shikamaru's teasing.

"Are you going?-because if you are, You want to hang out until then?" he said, nonchalantly. It sounded like a date, _'Is it?...No it's just two friends hanging out'. _Although he wouldn't want to deny it-he wouldn't want to acknowledge it either.

"y-yes i'd love too na-naruto-kun" She replied. _'Almost like a date..' _ she avoided looking directly at him to subdue her blush.

"Great! Let me pay for our ramen then we'll get going!" He voiced out, dropping money on the counter. The couple said their goodbyes and headed out the door. They wondered around the town with hinata on his right, naruto found himself looking towards her left hand as it looked somehow inviting, he felt his own hand twitch as he recalled the softness as they entwined them together a few days ago, He shook his head, scattering the strange thoughts the fluttered around. _'This isn't a date-we're not-' _he looked towards the front, as looking at her seemed to involve this invasive thoughts.

**'****_Kami, Naruto- this is the thing your most indecisive about'_** Kurama thought to himself. He been observing Naruto since the war ended. He seen all the hidden thoughts he'd been having. Especially when the girl was around. How he noted all the subtle redness that floated to her face today, or how Naruto had taken several deep breaths to take in her lavender scented shampoo. Some of these lay behind the obvious thoughts and Kurama wondered if he was aware he thought about this. Kurama was curious about the girl-She might greatly speed up his plan.

They walked in a busy street heading towards nowhere in particular, Naruto heard a stifled yawn from beside him he looked over to her seeing her politely covering her mouth. When she first entered ichiraku, he immediately noticed the tired bags under her eyes. He wondered a little nap under the sunny day would help her. A yawn escaped from him as well, except not as politely or quiet as the young woman beside him.

"Boy I'm bushed! you wanna find somewhere to do what Shikamaru does Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Umm... S-Sure" She didn't exactly know what shikamaru liked to do but if she got to spend some time with him, she didn't mind at all.

"Great!" He uttered enthusiastically. He reached for her hand to rush towards a nearby park to look at the clouds, but he reminded himself that she was tired when he saw her try and stop another yawn. He thought about why he was disappointed at this, he was going to help her after all. He replied back to villagers that enthusiastically said hello or praised him, thankfully though they didn't ask for an autograph, he'd have to redesign it. He still felt a bit uncomfortable about all the attention he was getting.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Naruto looked towards the screaming behind him, A shiver went up his spine and he grimaced at what he found. A group of fan girls were coming directly towards him and immediately surrounded him. Excited giggling and squealing pierced his ears...most likely destroy his hearing.

"Naruto-kun! you're so handsome!"

"You're the best!"

"Marry me Naruto-kun!'

Hinata looked over at his sudden fan-club, she looked at them at their courage. Some of them were dressed provocatively like Ino, She could never wear something like that. Until she saw the look on naruto's face. He was in obviously distressed but the girls didn't care at all. She shook her head in embarrassment at her thoughts _'No it's just senseless worshiping... My feelings are genuine' _. They locked eyes with one another, and Hinata saw a small look of mischievousness within them. He quickly approached her and he grasped her hand and leaned in slowly towards her face. Hinata was mortified, eyes wide open, she felt the heat rush up to her cheeks.

She felt time slow for herself and she did not dare look away from his mischievous-piercing blue eyes, he leaned in closer and closer. The blush on her face doubled in intensity as she stared at his inviting lips in anticipation._ 'In front of all these girls?" _Something within her said she didn't care at all and would relish in their reactions. He leaned over her moving his mouth over her ear. she pouted her lips in disappointment when he wasn't going to kiss her.

"Let's get out of here Hinata-chan" He whispered as he placed his hands over hers. His whispers sent a shiver coursing through her. His voice snapped her out of her reverie as she noticed the girls surrounding them where silent, giving her deathly glares and judging eyes. She nodded-knowing her stutters would hardly form a coherent response. With one hand still around hers, he pulled her through the stunned crowd and started running. The fan-girls were shocked that he picked such a plain looking girl.

Hinata and Naruto reached an empty section of a park, Hinata was trying to bring down her blush. She had immediately assumed he would kiss her in front of those girls and the worst part was she wouldn't have minded at all in the slightest. She could almost imagine the stunned expressions if he did.

"Man you should have seen their faces!"He chuckled, Hinata had to giggle at this too. She was secretly smug and immensely enjoyed the jealous glares they sent at her, some of them had judging looks their eyes and if she were any bolder she would have stuck their tongue at them. She looked lovingly at the blond beside her, He made her feel like she could more. She lightly squeezed his hand that was still entwined around hers, reluctant to let go. She was surprised when he did the same in return.

"Hey look there's Shikamaru again!" He said. Ignoring what he did. He was Pointing towards a lone tree, under the shade lay Shikamaru. "Let's go join him alright" He suggested.

"Ye-Yes" They quickly traversed the grass over to shikamaru. They let their hands fall apart. She felt the lingering warmth of his hand on hers. No matter the situation it made her feel safe-Like what others thought of her didn't matter to her.

"What's up Shikamaru?" Naruto called out. The cloud watcher looked away from his gaze and over to the couple.

"Hey Naruto... you guys done with your date already?" He teased.

"Wh-whatever!... We just came here to watch the clouds like you" Naruto replied. Shikamaru smirked slightly _'He didn't deny it'_.

"Sure..." Shikamaru said disbelievingly. He couldn't deny it-he did a kick out of teasing Naruto. He was glad he was here though, he was about to leave since his attempted cloud watching kept getting disrupted by himself. Although he didn't want to intrude on their _not_ date. He peeked over to hinata-she had hopeful expression on her face.

"Whatever... just don't talk too much"

"Yeah yeah" He propped himself down more than arm's length away from shikamaru, Hinata followed him, going beside naruto. The three individuals lay within the protective shade of the tree, they sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Taking in the day as they watched large fluffy white clouds float around. A gentle soothing breeze flew through as birds sang their song. They temporary forgot about their hardship.

"It's been a while hasn't it?...Relaxing like this" Naruto interjected quietly.

"Yes" Hinata agreed.

"Yeah... Far too much has happened far too quickly" Shikamaru just had to agree as well. He hardly remembered the last time he'd been like this. He decided to change the subject before things got too gloomy. "At least there'll be time for a whole lot of relaxing...Like our get together tomorrow"

"Yeah! I'm pretty excited for it" he yelled out. raising a fist into the air, before slumping it down.

"Umm- Shikamaru-kun what should we wear?" Hinata asked.

"Ino wanted no ninja gear...just wear civilian clothes I guess" He replied lazily. he closed his eyes, hoping a nap would make his day, if it came to him-he hardly had any sleep yesterday. Another silence overcame them and after a few minutes shikamaru slipped into a nap without even noticing. Naruto noticed him slightly snoring.

"Hey Hinata?" Naruto asked. Still looking towards to sky, He wondered about the tree that created their shade. He'd have to find out where yamato was.

"Y-yes naruto-kun" She turned to looked at him. Naruto closed his eyes, she always said his name in a different way than other people.

"Can I hold your hand?" He asked, laying his hand on the grass towards her. He heard a slight gasp come from her. If he didn't already know of her feelings, he would've thought he offended her. It wasn't like he could forget it. He felt like he didn't deserve someone so awesome like her, but right now he didn't care. He felt the familiar warmth of her hand and the softness that accompanied it. He felt a another pleasant breeze course through. He felt a sensation that was unfamiliar-one that he hadn't felt in a while, but he decided to hold onto it. He just felt so... at peace at the moment.

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**A/N: I'm attempting on improving my writing, initially this chapter was more gloomy and depressing-I wanted to slow down on that. The original chapter planned was moved forward**


	5. Missions

**A/N:'cough' Hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 4 Missions

"You'll fail...Like always..." an all too familiar voice said to him.

Naruto opened his eyes, his heartbeat racing from the nightmare. He took a deep, calming breath. He'd slept sideways on the couch. His apartment wasn't very big. There was a small hall when you enter, with a bathroom directly on the right, and a door a few steps down the hall on the left would lead to his room. Where the hall ended was the living room, where he had slept for the night, The living room was attached to the kitchen, which was a clearing with a knee-high table in the middle. In the living room, besides the couch he'd slept on, there was a coffee table situated in front of said couch, and to the side was a nice loveseat. This was home. It was simple, but Naruto liked it.

He checked the time on the clock that was in the kitchen, seeing that it was past noon. He groggily stood up. His throat felt dry and his eyes were red from lack of sleep. If he could, he would have slept right then. 'The nightmares are getting worse,' he thought to himself. They had kept him up, like someone had cursed him. He started to get ready for today-the time to get together with his friends couldn't seem to come faster. 'Just 4 more hours,' he thought. He wasn't a patient person.

A knock on his door thankfully brought him out of his thoughts. He went to go answer and hoped it was her, but as he opened the door his hopes were destroyed. His guest was a member of the ANBU black ops, part of the Hokage's personal guard. The person had a feminine form so it obviously a woman. She wore a cat mask and had beautiful long purple hair that reminded him of Hinata, and he would have mistaken her for Hinata at first glance if she wasn't a bit taller than him. 'Besides, Hinata's hair is bit darker.'

"Uzumaki-sama, Lady Hokage requests your presence immediately," she said. Naruto nodded in response. She bowed to him in a formal manner before quickly leaving. He frowned a bit at both formal acts but he ignored it and grabbed his jacket in preparation to leave. 'I thought all mission outside the village were stopped for a while.' He closed the door, heading directly for the Hokage mansion. 'At least it'll give me something to do for now'.

He quickly reached the Hokage mansion, having leaped from the rooftops so as to not bump into any irritating villagers. The mansion had been completely rebuilt to its original form below the Hokage monument. He jumped in through the window where the Hokage resided, wanting to get whatever she needed done over with.

"What'cha need, Baa-chan?" he asked, still perched on the window sill. Tsunade turned to the Genin.

"Naruto...We have to discuss a few things so sit down," she replied, ignoring his obvious disrespect. He did as she commanded and sat down on the chair across from her. He wondered what this was all about.

"First off, this is about the tailed beasts." She watched as Naruto's interest spiked when he heard. She now had his full attention.

"What about them?" he asked, curious. Kurama was listening as well.

"Well they had agreed to be sealed once again into jinchuuriki," she explained. "The 5 Kages and the Biju agreed that it was safer. They don't want to risk being captured and used as weapons again."

"Ok, so what does this have to do have to do with me?" he asked.

"Well other than the two-tails with Kumo, the other Biju don't trust the other villages with the sealing techniques," she hinted. His face still had a lost look in it. He had no idea where she was going with this.

"...okay?"

She sighed. He was still the same as ever.

"Naruto, they only trust you and the sealing technique that you have on you," she said. When she received no answer she couldn't believe she had to clarify once again. "Meaning you have to learn fuinjutsu to help them"

"Oooh!" Naruto exclaimed, finally getting it. "So they want me to seal them? Why didn't you just say so?" A tick appeared on Tsunade's forehead before she calmed herself down. Naruto still had the power to aggravate her.

"Consider it an S-ranked mission...Once you learn fuinjutsu I'll tell you the other details of the mission," she finished.

"Baa-chan, how am I supposed to learn fuinjutsu?" Naruto asked. He had a puzzled look on his face.

"Well I do have some knowledge, but I know Lord Fukasaku knows more, so you should ask him. We'll also try locating the Four Elements Seal jutsu scroll for you, though that will be difficult since most of our scrolls went missing or were destroyed in the attack," Tsunade explained.

"So Geezer Sage, then...Don't worry, Baa-chan! I'll get this down as fast as I can!" Naruto declared.

"...I don't expect you to have an easy time, Naruto. Fuinjutsu is difficult to master. Playing it safe would be better than speeding through it," Tsunade said to him. She watched him leave from the window. She wondered if being an Uzumaki would help at all in learning fuinjutsu. She needed him to be better, he had a pained looked in his eyes, and she noticed how he hadn't reiterated his famous nindo. She had to help somehow. She was willing to do anything she could do to help him.

After getting a few bowls of ramen, Naruto headed home to find out if Geezer Sage could help. He might as well, since he didn't have anything to do until five. Once inside, he moved over to the living room. Once he got in an area with enough space, he cast the technique.

"Summoning jutsu!" A small cloud of smoke appeared over the floor. A little red toad with an orange scarf appeared. The toad was small, about the size of his hand.

"Oh my, oh my! The Great Uzumaki-sama has summoned me!" Naruto looked at the toad on the floor. The small amphibian was very excited. "My apologies Naruto-sama, I forget my manners. I'm Gamafu, a messenger toad"

"Oh, hey, Gamafu! No honorifics, okay?" he said. The toad hesitated a bit before nodding furiously. "Anyway could you get Geezer Sage to reverse-summon me to Mt Myoboku?"

"Sorry Naruto-san, who's that?" Gamafu said, confused. Naruto sweat-dropped at the honorific. He decided to ignore it.

"it's Fukasaku," Naruto replied. The toad was a bit taken aback by the nickname, but he recovered quickly.

"Yes! right away!" He disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto sat down and waited for a few minutes until he blinked and suddenly found himself in a small room. He smelled Shima's cooking of beetles and larvae, causing his stomach to get upset. He looked down to see Fukasaku filling himself up with her cooking

"Naruto! Would you like to have some lunch?" Shima asked. She had a bowl ready to pour food in. She was glad to have company again.

"Errr, no thanks, I already ate," he replied truthfully.

"Naruto-boy! How are you?" the other old toad sage asked.

"I'm alright, but I need to ask you something important!" he exclaimed.

"Well, go on, spit it out!" Fukasaku said. He was quite interested in the boy since the war ended. Naruto explained the situation of his mission to him and added how it was personal to him as well. Kurama had approved of this.

"I see...Well It's just your luck then!" He replied.

"So that means you'll help me?" Naruto asked.

"Well, not exactly, but Jiraiya-boy did travel a lot. He never had a place to settle his things. I've heard from Gamakichi that you know who your father is, is that correct?" the old toad asked. Upon seeing his student nod, he continued, "I see...Well, I've got just the present for you! Follow me!"

Naruto followed Fukasaku out the small door. Once outside, he sensed the abundance of nature energy coursing through the air. He took a deep breath of the rich, heavy air, smelling all sorts of fragrances from the richness of the dirt to the large plant life scattered around.

He took in the scenery of the Mount Myoboku, the odd horn-like rock formations, the giant plant life. Massive amounts of green covered his vision. He saw the toad oil water fall in the distance to his right where he did part of his sage training, and the sliced rocks in the distance where he secretly trained to use his rasenshuriken, across from where he stood.

"So where are we heading geezer-sage?" Naruto asked, seeing as they veered from the main path towards where the giant old toad lived.

"You'll see," Fukasaku replied, being quite vague. They quickly reached their destination, hardly a two minute walk. Naruto saw a small house, hardly any larger than the house Fukasaku stayed in. He followed him inside. The door was a bit larger this time, but he still had bend down to get through. Surprisingly, he was able to fully stand up inside the house. The ceiling of the house reached a little higher than 6 ft. He took in the rest of the house.

The house was small, so there wasn't much. Immediately, he saw a bed to the right against the furthest right corner. There was a door near the end of the bed which led to a bathroom directly to his right. To his left was a small kitchen on the other side of a wall, with two entrances at either end leading to the room. Against the kitchen wall was a small knee-high table for two. In front of him was a bookcase that reached the ceiling and reached across the room ending near the bed and the kitchen on either end. The bookcase was filled with numerous scrolls and books and the like, some he recognized as copies of Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

"What's all this?" Naruto asked, noticing that there were numerous personal items strewn around the room, along with some boxes under the bed. The little library interested him too. A picture frame lied face down on the table, along with a piece of paper.

"I remember now! That bathroom there has actual plumbing!" Fukasaku added.

"What!? how come you didn't tell me that before?!" he yelled at the old toad. He had to suffer going outside in a designated area. Needless to say it was horrible. The toad chuckled lightly at his response.

"Because Naruto my boy, this is where Jiraiya-boy kept his stuff as he didn't exactly have a house of his own. This is where he put items he wanted to keep away from others. He slept in this room sometimes..." he said lowly. Naruto was stunned at all this.

"So is all this-"

"Actually, some of these belonged to your father as well."

"What?!" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

"Yes...I reckon some of those scrolls will help you with your fuinjutsu training. I'll leave you alone for a bit, but I'll be right back," Fukasaku said, leaving the young sage alone. Naruto stood there for a few minutes. He felt that if he moved the items in the room, they might disappear, fade away forever. He felt pressure in his lungs and realized he was holding in his breath. After a few moments of calming his heart, he wondered where he should look first. He took a hesitant step towards the table, as it seemed the least overwhelming.

He slowly knelt down, placing himself over the table. He reached for the picture frame and turned it over. He gasped. It was a picture of his parents. His father appeared to be sitting down and was dressed in a blue long-sleeved shirt. His mother, with her beautiful long red hair stood beside him, a hand on his father's shoulder. She had a big stomach, showing that she was pregnant when the photo was taken. They both had happy smiles on their faces.

Something clouded his eyes, making his vision blurry. He wiped his eyes and realized that he was crying. He set the photo down, looking at it with a smile on his face. The blond let the happy tears fall freely until no more were shed. He looked at a piece of folded paper on the table, then opened it and saw it was a small letter written by Pervy Sage. To him. Grabbing both items he walked over the bed.

Naruto

If you're reading this, I guess I'm not here anymore, and you know of your parents.

In here are some of the valuables your parents had, along with mine. They're yours now.

I'm glad I made you my student.

The Gallant and Great Honorable Toad Sage and your Sensei

Jiraiya

P.S. Your parents sometimes came here for some 'special' alone time. Hope you do the same with a special girl.

Naruto smiled at this, some tears falling down. He didn't understand what the last part meant, but he could imagine his master's perverted giggling. He clutched the items in his hands and, exhausted, he closed his eyes.

* * *

Naruto awoke. Wiping his face, he sat up. He had dreamed of nothing. No nightmares presented themselves before him, and he was grateful for it. He looked at the clock hanging above the table. It was almost four. He had to get back to Konoha and meet up with Hinata and his friends. He stood up, taking the letter and photo and setting them on the table. He looked at the small library on the bookshelf.

"Right! I said I'd help them, so I'll do my best!" he called out to no one is particular. He looked at the dozens of scrolls and books on the bookcase, separated into five different shelves. Luckily, they were neatly organized. The bottom shelf had all sorts of cookbooks and others about history. The second one had many personal journals and others he thought were photo albums. He skipped over the photos, intent on going over them another time.

He read over the titles on the journals, most were obviously Jiraiya's as they were titled 'Research for novels'. Others were blank and had nothing within them, The rest were from his father. At first he thought a woman had written them because of the writing, but it wasn't the case. He wondered why he hadn't come across any from his mother. He looked through his father's collection and found an older journal from his father titled 'Fuinjutsu'. He took a peek inside and read an excerpt.

...Fuinjutsu requires precise chakra control, or you run the risk of the seals working improperly, or in extreme circumstances, destroying both the subject being sealed and the object the subject is being sealed in.

"Crap..." Naruto said quietly. 'So I can accidentally kill the biju...Great...' . His chakra control had gotten better over the years, but now here he was trying to learn something he was terrible at to begin with. He read a bit more trying to find any more tips he could learn for better chakra control.

...Requires excellent penmanship for creating seals...perfect handwriting will ensure a stronger seal...I practiced creating sealing scrolls and using the Finger Writing Jutsu for practicing chakra control and handwriting...

'No wonder Dad's writing looks so girly...Finger Writing Jutsu...Is that what Pervy Sage used on Geezer Sage?' Naruto thought about it. He groaned in astonishment, he didn't think fuinjutsu could be so hard. 'I can hardly read my own writing!'. He put the book over on the desk for later use. The other three shelves seemed to be stacked with various jutsu scrolls and books. He starting looking through the top, searching for the finger writing jutsu, and how to create sealing scrolls.

He came across a jutsu scroll. 'Hiraishin'. He froze. It was his father's jutsu, he read through it wondering if he could learn it. He groaned once again, he hardly understood what most of it said. The parts he did understand had to do with fuinjutsu and perfect chakra control. He started to pile up the stuff he wanted to bring back with him before Kurama intervened.

"Bad idea Naruto." the giant fox cautioned.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, confused .

"Baka...It's a highly sought after jutsu. Better to keep it here, away from thieves...You can't learn it yet anyway," Kurama said.

"Crap! Good thing you're here, Kurama!" Naruto said. He berated himself for almost making a mistake. This jutsu was able to give his father the moniker 'The Yellow Flash' after all. He returned it back to its place.

"Yeah," Kurama joked. Naruto ignored this.

"So what's safe to bring?" He asked

"Common jutsu like those your father mentioned. You can take the journal as long as you keep on you at all times. Only take what you need to learn right now, as you can always return later. Got it?" Kurama ordered. He did it for the best interests of Naruto, after all.

"Got it Kurama" Nodding, Returning to his search, he looked at the various scrolls, that all seemed to be high-leveled. 'Dead demon consuming seal' and 'Rasengan' . He skipped the top and looked to the second shelf, he quickly found the finger carving jutsu scrolland creating sealing scrolls. Curious, He looked quickly through the 3rd shelf, There were several copies of 'Tale of an utterly gutsy shinobi' he saw earlier, he grabbed one for his own. There was copies of the 'icha icha series, He left them there. The rest seemed to be books favorited by Jiraiya or his parents.

Done with his searching, he grabbed a small bag sitting under the bed. In exception of his father's journal as he put it into his tool pouch. He emptied the stuff he collected he had into it. Slinging it over his shoulder he went for the door. He took one last look before leaving-Taking a deep breath he closed the door and left for fukasaku's house. Retracing his steps he quickly reached the house. He crawled through, and saw shima and fukasaku enjoying some of their 'tea'.

"Hello Naruto-boy!...I came by earlier but I saw you sleeping-Are you done?" Fukasaku asked.

"Yeah thanks for that by the way geezer-sage, I got some stuff needed to learn fuinjutsu" Naruto replied back, he wanted to return back and meet with his friends. Fukasaku nodded at this.

"You've earned the right to them...I'll trust your judgment on whatever you decide to do with them" The old toad sage said. Seeing the bag naruto held.

"This is just common jutsu... I want to keep the dangerous jutsu here- Is that okay" Naruto asked.

"Yes it is" Fukasaku nodded in approval. "We'll protect them until then...I see you're ready to return then" Seeing Naruto constantly shifting his weight, he nodded. "Before you leave we got a little something for you-Ma?"

"Yes dear" Shima bounced off to the end of the room. Naruto was bit a bit puzzled, curious as to what they got him. She returned with a folded coat, and held it out for naruto. He grabbed it and unfolded it, he saw that it was nearly identical to the one when he fought against the 6 paths of pain, the only difference was that it had the kanji for mount myoboku on the back.

"We wanted to give this you, since you are a sage now..." Shima said to him. Naruto seemed a little struck. Getting gifts still sounded a bit foreign to him, but he accepted it graciously.

"Thanks-It looks great... I'll wear it whenever I'm outside the village" Naruto suggested.

"Good" Fukasaku nodded. "Well I think it's time you return now" he started on the hand signs needed to return naruto back home.

"Great!- I'll return later when I get the hang of this" He waved goodbye, and the toads returned it. He blinked once more, finding himself in his apartment once again.

"Well time to get ready!" he shouted. Excited to get going to meet his friends.

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of konoha, politely returning hello's or embarrassingly thanking people who praised him. Luckily any girls who wanted to flirt with him, were drawn away from the pale-eyed girl that walked along side him. They were dressed in civilian clothes, and to anyone observing, it seemed that they were on a date.

Naruto walked along side with Hinata towards the BBQ restaurant. He looked completely plain next to her. She was dressed in a yukata colored with different shades of purple with an orange obi tied around. He was just dressed in a orange T-shirt with a white uzumaki symbol on the back, he wore it along with black pants. Naruto had to admit that the yukata that Hinata wore looked awesome, especially with the added orange.

"So...Do all hyuuga's dress like you do?" Naruto asked, he remembered seeing Neji in those robe things of his.

"Umm... Yes-We like to b-be formal" Hinata answered. She hoped he liked it, it was the most casual clothing she had. At first she had opted to wear a different colored obi, but she came across the orange one. She knew of his favorite color, so she wore it. She had to confess that she didn't think it would mix pleasantly with lavender at first.

"Oh...because you sort of look...kinda like a princess" He smiled shyly. He put a hand to his neck in a nervous matter that hinata came to recognize, She felt a warm feeling and a pleasant blush 'a pr-princess?...'

"Th-thank you Naruto-kun" She smiled. Orange and lavender did look good moved around a corner and found the most of their friends there. They had arrived a few minutes late.

"Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled out. He waved enthusiastically calling them over and alerting the others of their visitors.

"OHH- You guys look so cute together!" Ino yelled out. Prompting both individuals to blush. "Hinata I don't know how but you somehow pull of orange...unlike this guy here!" She said truthfully. Hinata saw no deceit in her words at all, and a faint blush adorned her cheeks, although the subtle insult towards naruto quickly brushed it away.

"St-stop it Ino!" he stuttered. He wanted to deny that they were together, but he didn't want hurt Hinata's feelings...At least that's what he keeps telling himself. "Where's choji?" he asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"Yeah who would've thought he was going to be late?" Kiba remarked.

"He's trying to look for Shino" Shikamaru added. 'Oh right him too...' Naruto thought to himself. He had completely forgotten about him. They waited around for several minutes, making small talk amongst themselves.

"Sakura's not coming apparently..." Ino said talking to tenten. Naruto froze at the mention of her making everyone feel the tension come from him and Ino instantly regretted bringing her name up. An awkward silence filled the atmosphere. Naruto had avoided thinking about her for the past few days. Hinata saw the hurt fill his eyes, along with a hollow look. It filled her with such dread. Luckily it did not last long as choji came in.

"Sorry I took so long guys!" He ran in panting, ignorant of the tense situation. "I wouldn't want to miss this for the world" He took some deep breaths.

"Where's Shino-san my youthful friend?" Lee asked the large boned teen.

"I couldn't find him anywhere" Choji replied back.

"Oh man! Now he's just gonna keep saying how we abandoned him, or didn't wait for him-when he's nowhere to be found" Kiba ranted. "Guy sure knows how to keep a petty grudge..."

"I believe we should wait for our comrade" Sai added.

"We've been waiting forever already!" Ino called out. She wanted to sit down. Her high heels were killing her.

"Let's wait inside or something" Ten ten suggested.

"Yeah, I'll just send out a shadow clone to look for him while we wait." He wore a grey sweater, reminiscent of his genin days. He made the familiar cross, and the clone looked for where he was. Naruto shook out of his anguish, He didn't want to his friends to see him that way.

"Whatever, let's just go inside" Shikmaru said. He didn't want everyone moan about how tired everyone is. When they walked inside, the patrons noticed the loud teens and realized most of them were the heirs and heiresses of the ninja clans, They saw the great Naruto uzumaki with them, They noted how he was standing closer than necessary to the hyuuga heiress.

"Yeah- we're here for our reservation" Shikmaru said to the person at the front desk.

"ah- yes... Nara, please follow our waitress to the private room" He said to them. A young brunette waitress appeared before the group. She wore a black skirt, showing off her legs, along with a vest and a low cut top, showing some cleavage. Hinata noticed she particularly eyed Naruto, Her wondering eyes did not go unnoticed by the other chuunin.

"Please follow me" She said. More so to Naruto personally but was oblivious. The group followed the waitress up some stairs and went into the private room. The room was large and the middle held a rectangular table, big enough for 12 people to seat in. The table was knee high, The seats were cushioned and supported by a shoulder height walls. The middle of the table were two grills already lit.

The teenagers took their seats, with Kiba, Ino, Sai Shikamaru and choji sitting on one side. Hinata sat at the end of the table on the left side of Naruto with Lee and tenten sitting on the right of him. The waitress gave them the menus and she asked what type of drinks they desired.

"Yes of course I'll get that right away for you " She said in more alluring voice. Her attempted flirting completely went over the head of Naruto as he replied with an 'ok' much to the relief of Hinata, and the waitress left for their orders.

"Man did see you that waitress?" Kiba yelled out. "She's basically eyeing up Naruto since she saw him!"

"I Know! I could see why though- He's a hero... and I mean he's actually pretty handsome without that headband on" Ino said nodding agreeing with kiba"...Isn't that right Hinata" She teased. Causing the midnight haired teen to blush.

"Y-ye-Yes" She agreed quietly. Causing herself to flush more at her courage. She just had to agree. The way his bangs hung over perfectly over his piercing cerulean eyes, She also just loved the way his shirt hung over his muscular- She shook her thoughts away, as she started to feel a little light headed, She definitely didn't want feel that way in such a public place. She took a peek to her right, Naruto looked at her with a slight blush at her comment.

"W-who's looking at me?" He asked. turning away from hinata.

"What!? How do you not notice her checking you out!- I mean she's actually pretty cute, I bet she's going to do something even bolder next time" Kiba said astonished at naruto's denseness. Ino watched with a careful eye, and she noticed a small peek towards hinata. She smiled deviously, This was just too fun for her.

The waitress had returned with their drinks, she put them down normally for everyone with the exception of Naruto. Kiba noticed as she pouted her lips and she bent down in a seductive manner to give him his drink, she was a bit further than necessary as she attempted to show off her cleavage to him. Kiba looked as Naruto wasn't aware of her, like she didn't exist at all.

"Woah! Thanks for the drink lady!" as he took his drink without a second glance at her. Much to the relief of Hinata. She took a peek at the waitress as she seemed to be getting a bit offended at being blatantly ignored at her attempts. She giggled at her failed seduction and the waitress sent a quick glare towards her. She silently thanked Naruto for nearly being impossibly dense. She demanded their order in a tense voice and choji ordered for all of them, a buffet. The waitress quickly walked out.

"So Naruto did you notice that?" Ten ten asked. She got a confused look from him and he looked around trying to find anything that could be noticed. The other's looked in disbelief, with the exception of Hinata she quietly giggled. They saw naruto take a quick look at her and he slightly smiled at her. He recovered at looked back at Ten ten.

"Errrr... was I supposed to notice something?" He asked. Even Lee just had to cough at that.

"I guess he really is dickless huh" Sai inputted. He may have been emotionally stunted, but he knew about that stuff from his research.

"What's with you and that! huh Sai?" Naruto yelled. Grabbing a drink, Sai merely shrugged at this.

"He's not dickless!" Hinata yelled. Silencing the group and all turned to face her. Naruto started to choke on his water at her sudden outburst. Hinata's face scrunched up in embarrassment and her faced turned tomato red. She wanted to die at what she said, know they were going to think they were closer than they thought, meanwhile Naruto was still choking on his drink.

When he finally stopped a blush appeared on his face, she couldn't look at him with her shame. The group started laughing at them and hinata's confidence fell. She looked down in her chagrin, as they laughed. She felt a now familiar hand close around hers, how could she ever forget the feeling it gave her and she looked up to find Naruto giving her a smile. She didn't care anymore because she was defending him. She smiled back at him. Their hand holding was kept away from the gazes of the others.

"Sooo..." Ino started, seeing their shared look. Naruto felt like he should be worried as he swallowed a gulp. She eyed him with a mischievous look in them. "You're not paying any attention because Hinata's here huh?" despite her shy gaze, the Hyuuga heiress hoped that was the reason.

"Wh-wh-what?" He stuttered once again. He felt his cheeks slightly heat with embarrassment and anger at his stutter. 'why is this always happening with them?'.

"I mean Hinata, I know your getting jealous-I see those icy eyes those hyuuga's usually have-I never would've believed to see those on you" Ino Teased.

"I-I-Ino-san!" Mortified at her accusation. Was she doing that? she didn't even notice.

"Well Hinata-chan doesn't even have to worry- cause No one is as awesome as her! " Naruto proclaimed. Oblivious that Hinata was dangerously close to fainting at his sudden declaration. She unconsciously squeezed his hand tighter.

"YOSH! I feel the youthfulness of passion just by looking at them-It's makes my heart soar for you Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled out.

"He's got his priorites straight though-I mean we came to a restaurant to eat, not to flirt with waitresses." Choji suggested. They continued with a few talks.

Shikmaru watched with interest, Ino had begun to act like her normal self around Naruto and Hinata. She teased them relentlessly, he had been worried about her as she was typically cooped up in her house. When he did see her, she had eyes full of pain and a slightly coarse voice from crying. 'The only interesting thing that doesn't depress us is naruto and hinata getting closer'. It was sadly true, what else was happening? Maybe he needed to talk to hokage about this. 'Woo look at me actually doing something' he thought to himself sarcastically. He decided to join in on their conversation.

"I found them holding hands yesterday..." He replied lazily. Seeing the betrayed look on his face was priceless,He looked at hinata, she looked like she barely holding on trying to be conscious. He chuckled at them. 'seeing naruto like this does feel good'. Shikmaru noted how he's never seen Naruto without hinata and he was curious as to how he was when he was alone.

The teasing continued until the food came several minutes later, the waitress seemed to have gave up on her flirting seeing naruto holding the girls hand beside him from her position. As the food cooked, Naruto grabbed the attention of sai.

"Hey Sai...Where's Yamato-sensei?" He asked, He still hadn't seen him around.

"He's in the hospital being treated for severe chakra exhaustion, He is supposed to awaken in a few days" He replied back.

"Oh... that's good" he said, solemnly. Small talk filled the group as naruto thought to himself.

"I couldn't find shino either, so let's eat!"Kiba exclaimed. Grabbing some meat off the grill, everyone grabbed a plateful. A cheerful atmosphere filled the room as they talked amongst each other. As he ate naruto thought about whether to visit Yamato. He quickly made a decision.

He didn't want to go to the hospital. Not to risk the chance of meeting her, He failed her. He wasn't even sure if he could look her in the eye ever again. He forced the thoughts to flee before the others noticed, Instead he thought of what transpired today for a few minutes. The picture he found and the letter Jiraiya left for him.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. She noticed the conversation around the table had turned a bit more private, Kiba, Ino and Sai were talking together, choji and shikamari ate and talked, same with tenten and lee. He turned towards her, taking a few bites to eat. One thing all had in common was that they all avoided talking about tomorrow.

"H-how was your day?" she asked him. Seeing a melancholic look held within his eyes.

"...It was a nice day actually" He confessed." Nostalgic" he added. He wished he had that picture he had of his parents to show her. To show her how beautiful his mom is. 'Next time' .

"I'm glad you grew your hair-It's beautiful long" He said suddenly, He wasn't even aware until the words were out, but he didn't see any cause for concern-It was true. He watched as a rose colored tint appeared on her face-Contrasting her pale complexion.

"Th-Thank you..." she said quietly. He smiled a little, he knew the cause of that blush she had around him now. He didn't mind at all.

* * *

New Things

Minato

Minato walked up the steps to his house slowly. He knew Kushina would figure out what's wrong, he might as well tell her everything. He opened his door feeling the wood squeak from use, the door closed behind him silently. He took a deep breath, taking in the fantastic smell of her cooking. He took off his sandals and lied them neatly, He unzipped his jonin jacket, hearing the 'zip' felt pleasant to his ears. It was the sign of the end of another day, to where he finally see his beloved wife.

He immediately traversed to the kitchen, knowing she was there. Her back was faced to him, he silently went behind her and encased her in a hug. His arms around were her waist and she locked her fingers around his. He rested his chin atop her head and after a few silent moments. She turned around to return his hug. As they embraced around one another, they swayed from side to side taking each other in from such a long day. He felt her beautiful red silky smooth hair through his fingers. He traveled down the length of her hair until he could no longer reach. He repeated this several times.

She leaned back a bit , getting them to look into each other eyes. Her violet eyes held such a uncontrollable fire, but they calmed just for him. They smiled slightly at one another, she leaned on her toes to reach him, he leaned down so she could reach. Their lips touched slightly-teasing one another. After a few more seconds their lips enveloped one another. They kissed slowly, letting their frustration and worries fade away from the slow passion as they kissed one another. They parted away, and he returned to rest his chin on her head.

After a few moments, they parted ways and left to the table to eat their prepared dinner. She seemed unusually nervous about something, He left it there for now letting her proceed her own pace. They silently ate dinner together for a few minutes.

"What's the matter Minato?" she asked curiously. He might as well tell her.

"I was named one of the possible successors for the 3'rd hokage today" He said. He heard her gasp in surprise.

"That's Great y'know! but what's the matter?" she questioned

"There's just...other shinobi that seem much more capable than me" He replied back. She laughed at him. He looked backed confused.

"You're such an idiot sometimes y'know!" She giggled some more. "You're not alone.. because you got me by side...Always Y'know" She smiled at him. "...And you got your friends to help you too-besides one of my dreams... is for you to become hokage remember?" she finished. He smiled back at her, how could he ever forget-he was never alone.

"You're right kushina-I won't let us down" He smiled brighter at her.

"Of Course I'm right..." She said uneasily. He watched as she was trying to bring something up but didn't quite know how too. He waited patiently for her for her to start, she didn't liked to be pushed. Then again she wasn't uneasy for just about anything

"I love you Minato-you know that right?" She said quietly. He watched her with interest, She looked like she just wanted reassurance.

"Of course-And I love you too" He smiled confidently at her. What he said seemed to have hardened her resolve, but she was still nervous. He grabbed a bite of her delicious cooking, He savored the sweet taste of her rice.

"IWannaStartAFamily Y'know" She said quickly. Minato choked on his food in surprise. She was looking down, her cheeks flushed enough to rival her hair. He finally got the food down his throat.

"What?" He asked, wondering if he heard correctly.

"I umm... want to... start a uhhh... family y'know...with you I mean" She said timidly contrasting her usual fiery personality. She avoided any eye contact with him. He looked at her for a brief moment, before getting out of his chair. He walked around the table and got on his knees before her. Still avoiding eye contact he leaned in to her ears.

"I'd love to start a family with you..." he whispered. He heard her gasp and a tear fell freely from face, she looked so happy-he was too, knowing he was the cause. But he wasn't done yet. "How about... we start right now" he whispered seductively. He quickly picked her up from her chair before she could respond. She had a flushed face but she kissed him slowly as he carried her to the bedroom.

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**A/N:A review would tremendously help**


	6. Unbreakable

Chapter 5:Unbreaking

Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto

**Happy birthday to Hinata! Dec 27**

**A/N: I found myself listening to a song several times whenever I write this story. **

**If you want to listen, although you don't need too, the song is Heavenfaced by The National if you were curious**

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Naruto bolted upright, his eyes wide open in absolute terror. He whimpered as his limbs shook uncontrollably. His breathing was rapid and his heart beating wildly. He sensed an unending sensation of doom. He searched his room-desperately looking for the pending threat. He felt sweat run down his face, but he dared not to wipe it from his brow. He felt like the closed door to his room might burst into pieces, revealing the danger, but it never came. He tried to ignore the feeling, but it kept running back.

He tried to take in his surroundings but everything seemed to have the potential to hide a creature. He looked outside his window to see if any welcoming sunlight was out. Complete darkness was all he seen. He met the eyes of a horrid beast, but when he blinked it had disappeared from his view. Paranoia crept into him, and swallowing nothing he stood up from his bed. He fully expected something to pull him under. When nothing happened, he turned on the light in his room and blocked the window.

His attempts did nothing to help him, as he still felt the awful feeling of dread. His visions from his nightmare still fresh in mind and kept resurfacing no matter how hard he pushed it down. He felt so alone. He crawled into a ball and felt the awful misery before he became a genin. The crushing loneliness. The Anger. The Hate. His thoughts spiraled down, threatening to pull him into the abyss. He hardly knew anything anymore.

Kurama watched his container writhe on the 'ground' below him, his mental form seemed to be one he recognized as him when he was a child. He saw his thoughts getting darker and darker. In his current mental state, Kurama was sure anything he could do would make it worse. As Naruto's mental form began crying, Kurama tried to come up with a way to help his teammate before he did something stupid. He had to come up with a subtle way to help him and to not reveal his presence.

**_ 'It's worth a shot'_** Kurama thought to himself. He came up with a few ideas-hopefully one of them would work. He shot an image of Iruka to him, No change. He shot an image of Jiraiya. It looked it didn't work. He sent in a image of his parents, and Naruto seemed to calm slightly. He sent phrase's of whatever he thought that would help. Minato's 'I believe in you completely'. Jiraiya's 'I'm glad I made you my student', were some of the examples- All had helped slightly, He sent in his mother's love, and Naruto seemed to be a lot better than before, but he wasn't out of the bag yet.

Kurama was a bit curious about the other ones, There wasn't a whole lot of his parents but there a bit more of these. He Injected the image of the hyuuga girl smiling at him. He watched with a curious eye as Naruto temporary stopped shaking before resuming. With an brow raised at his find, he quickly searched for anything that involved her and chucked it at him. Hand holding and all that stuff, After a few minutes, Naruto had grown back to his older mental self.

He was still suffering from the effects of his nightmare-as he huddled in a ball with his eyes down casted to the ground. Kurama sighed, He was able to free him from his self-pity. He had to be more careful next time. He couldn't risk another episode like that since Naruto could make it worse at any moment. He closed his eyes for another nap.

Naruto closed his eyes trying to catch sleep. He ignored his doubts and the phantom he felt looming over him. His limbs disobeyed his command as he tried not to shake. He felt the phantom looming over him as he felt like he tried to cut him open. Opening his eyes to see nothing, he sat back up from his bed. He breathed in deeply unsuccessfully trying to calm himself. He was worried, not just about him but about Hinata as well. _'She's okay...I know she's okay' _ He didn't actually know but he couldn't just run into the hyuuga compound.

He berated himself as he forgot who he was, _'I'm a friggin toad sage!' _He yelled to himself. He tried to completely still, necessary to collect nature energy. His attempts were wasted as he couldn't stop shaking and his sprouting fear festered within. _'Think...Think...Think!"_ As his fear grew as he couldn't think of any alternatives. _'I have to make sure she's ok!' _Resigning to breaking into the hyuuga compound.

As he went to find his jacket he remembered the shadow clone. Wasting no time or to berate him he created the familiar cross. He messed up a few times trying to mold the chakra to create a single shadow clone. A poof signified the arrival of one, luckily the clone seemed to not suffer the lasting effects of the nightmare. He quickly collected nature energy and a poof signaled his ceasing of existence. Naruto felt the power of sage mode coursing through him. He felt the chakra of all nearby entities, almost immediately he felt the familiar flare of hers.

Naruto let out the air he didn't know he'd been holding in. He opened his eyes to watch over his room. He ignored all other chakra and focused solely on hers. The feel of her chakra had a calming effect on him, but his feeling of paranoia still hung over him. Each time his sage chakra was close to running out, he immediately collected more from his clones. He didn't want to lose the feeling of her chakra. After an hour he noticed a slight change in her chakra, but he didn't sense any sort of danger to where she was, reluctantly he ignored it.

He watched over her carefully, like a hawk guarding it's nest. Making certain there was no danger near her. _'I'm supposed to be watching over her'_ as he continued scanning the hyuuga compound. Slowly overtime the feeling of danger Naruto had felt waned, A few hours had passed, his paranoia disappearing, and Naruto felt the coming rays of sunlight. He felt the sudden fatigue when sage mode was exhausted. Remembering what the day was, he dropped like brick from the exhaustion of after the many attempts going into sage mode. He hate today already and sleep quickly overtook him.

"Please Hinata...I...Just need to be alone for a moment" Naruto said her. They stood hidden from the public eye, She had joined him wordlessly and watched the ceremony together, up until a few moments ago. He didn't dare look into her eyes as she peered at him. She was the only one to have found him. He walked away, he couldn't bare seeing the caskets and hearing the names being listed, knowing one of them will never be there. No matter how much he wanted him to be.

"H-hai... I'll find you...when it finishes" She didn't hear a confirmation from him as he walked away from the ceremony. She didn't hear a refusal either. She looked worriedly at him as he walked away. Since the war had ended, he was suffering, she could easily see that. The certain spark in his eyes had completely left, The past few days were simply a imitation, a shadow of its former self. At times, for the past few days she saw flickers of the former fire his eyes held. The effect was only temporary. Nonetheless she would never rest until the fire was completely restored to its former glory. He was the only thing keeping her going.

Naruto avoided the pity filled eyes the citizens directed towards him, He looked down on the ground to avoid seeing their stares. He just needed to leave, He headed towards street with the least amount of people. The ceremony had been held in front of the Hokage mansion. He had kept out of sight of the others, hidden somewhere in the shadows of the buildings. Everyone had dressed accordingly, black clothes.

A war memorial would be built in the middle of the village for all the sacrifices that had occurred. He hardly remembered the entirety of his 'nightmare', a nightmare couldn't be compared to the he had. Broken pieces were all that was left behind. He clutched his head as a unwanted memory came.

_Naruto looked into his eyes. Blood rang down the side of his face, Oynx eyes stared back at him. Accusing him. He coughed and blood spat out hitting his jacket. He heard as he struggled to form a sentence._

_ "You'll...fail...Like always" he whispered to Naruto, He stared back at him. He saw the pain filled eyes, and what felt like an eternity, saw as the light slowly left him. The now empty husk, slipped to side. He had just killed him. A person he considered family, a brother._

He took several deep breaths to calm himself from his sudden ragged breathing. He wanted to shake away the feeling, But it kept returning. Looking around to see where he was, he found that he was in front of the memorial stone. To distract himself, he looked upon the names inscribed on it, his eyes fell on a particular name.

_Obito Uchiha_

He looked upon the memorial stone, no new names were etched upon it yet, _'But... He will never be on it' _He thought to himself. A pained expression formed on his face.

"Kakashi-sensei...Do you know?...What will happen to that name?" He asked. He didn't need to say the name. Kakashi's old teammate.

"I don't know...Naruto..." He replied hesitantly, He looked sadly at his student. Who was still facing the memorial, his back facing him.

"Would...Would I have turned like him?... If I didn't kill him that day?" Naruto asked. He held a choked sob that threatened to escape. Kakashi closed his eye in contemplation, He had failed as a sensei, and he couldn't even help his own students to ease the pain. He truthfully never recovered from his, and his old wounds had resurfaced during the war.

"...Do you want me to tell you the truth?" He replied lowly. Naruto nodded, afraid his voice would betray him. It had been eating at him since that day. He wanted to find out, even if it destroyed him inside. He looked back at his sensei, Kakashi saw his look, eyes that would detect any form of deceit. He didn't want pity or reassurance that he would never turn out like him. He wanted the truth.

"What I think Naruto...Is that you would have been worse than Sasuke was "Kakashi replied. He looked sadly upon his student, as hurt fill his student's eyes. Naruto looked back towards the memorial. _'Worse...Almost...I was almost like a monster'._

"But you're still here Naruto...You're still you" Kakashi said. Trying to reassure him.

"Yeah...I guess..."Hardly a whisper. Kakashi watched despairingly as his student walked off. How could he help? To tell him to move on would be hypocrisy at its finest. _'I couldn't even move on completely'._ His eye rested upon _Obito Uchiha_, one that helped to cause so much pain in the world, with that thought he walked away from the memorial.

Hinata reached the top of the Hokage monument, it had taken her a while to locate Naruto. With the help of her byakugan she was able to locate him. She approached him from behind, he was sitting down in a crossed legged position. The sun had reached the final few hours of daylight. Reaching him she sat herself down beside him.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Please...Just go away" He whispered to her. Not looking towards her.

"No... You need to let it go" She whispered back.

"I said I'm fine Hinata!" Yelling at her. She flinched.

"Please let me help you Naruto-kun" She pleaded, He looked down, his eyes avoiding hers. A pained expression visible, she just didn't know when to give up.

"I'm-I'm fine..." He said desperately, She was breaking down to many walls for comfort. Her piercing eyes saw through everything, what she could see in him, it scared him.

"I-I want to help you...I can't keep my promise if you don't" She begged. A few tears flew down her face in her attempt, she saw a familiar torn expression on his face, She had never wanted to see it again. Naruto looked into her eyes, his last few wall broke down. "I...I'm just... I Just feel l-like there's... something missing in me " He cried out."I-I want...I want to help h-him to be remembered...But at the same time... I want curse him at his grave!"He yelled out. She looked at his sadly in his distressed state.

"I-I wanted to save him!... b-but I just cou-" A choked sob escaped from him.

"I saw it... I saw it in his eyes but I didn't want to kill him!...I-I d-don't know... I don't why I killed him... I really don't...and it's eating me from the inside... I just want to know why...How could I forget such a thing!" He cried out, tears flowing freely from him. She pulled him into a hug letting him know she was there for him. He sobbed harder, clutching onto her desperately.

Hinata let him weep, and felt her shoulder damp that he cried on. There was only one other time she'd seen him so lost. She forced back her own tears, she couldn't let him see it. He needed a pillar of strength, not a empathetic ear. She pulled him closer getting more comfortable, her hand on his brilliant hair, another on his back. She felt him hold more tightly in response, As he was afraid she might leave him. She gently rubbed his back to comfort him

Hinata noticed the dying rays of the fading sun, she didn't know how long they have been sitting above the monument, but it must have been quite a while since she remembered the sun being higher. She still held the person she loved in her arms, His breathing still run ragged, but he no longer cried.

"Le-Let's get you home" She said to him, she waited patiently for his response and she saw him nod faintly. Slowly they got up from their seating position, he had a depressed look on his face as he kept his eyes down casted. He looked utterly defeated and his eyes displayed a lost look with them . He desperately held on to her right hand, like if he let go she'd would leave him. She replaced her right hand with her left and wrapped free arm around his waist to lead him more comfortably, he seemed to relax a bit to the more intimate contact.

Walking side by side, she led him down the stone steps of the hokage monument. They traversed down and reached the bottom. As they began getting closer to the village, He began inching closer to her, as if to shield himself. Seeing him getting more uncomfortable, she decided to lead him through more secluded areas. Hinata, knowing that the people and children looked up to him decided to avoid anyone whatsoever, they didn't need to him like this. Luckily because of today's events the streets were mostly empty.

Using her byakugan, They did their best to avoid any meetings with any civilians. Naruto still carried a defeated look with him as they traversed through Konoha. He held onto her hand, feeling the softness of her skin. Feeling her hand made his chaotic thoughts die down. Those dangerous thoughts still lingered within, setting themselves at the edge, ready to invade when she left, he longed for more of her gentle touch to force them away.

They reached the complex where his apartment was located. Reaching his door, he reluctantly let go of a hand and quickly reached inside his pocket to retrieve his key and gave it to her. She unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped inside, leading Naruto with her. Any realization's that she was in his apartment didn't come for her. Hinata's only concern was for him at the moment, nothing else registered in her mind other than trying to soothe the person she loved.

She led him down the small hall, reaching the living room they sat themselves down on the love seat. They sat in a comfortable silence, waiting for the long day to end, Naruto nestled himself against her, his head resting on her shoulder. Hinata saw the time on the clock, she had to get back to the compound before 10. Except she didn't want to leave Naruto behind. She got up from her seat, only for Naruto tightly hold onto her hand.

"Please...I...I don't want to be alone..."He said quietly looking up at her. Hinata could hear the pleading in his voice. His eyes showing fear within them, he looked entirely vulnerable. She nodded, the thought of refusing him never crossed her mind. She sat back down, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't want those thoughts to come back.

"I'm here Naruto-kun..."

"...Thank you..." He replied.

Naruto looked at the small delicate hands entwined around his, Her pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight that came through his living room window. She slept soundlessly as she leaned on his shoulder. He heard the quiet breathing from her, It seemed to have a calming effect on him seeing her in such a state. In a un-manner like Naruto, He gently stood up, carefully, making sure his movements wouldn't wake her.

Once free he picked her up bridal-style, and carried her to his room where she would be more comfortable. As he carried her Naruto couldn't help but think light she felt, The way her midnight hair dangled below as he carried her and how her petite form perfectly fit in his arms. He reached his room and carefully set her down. He put a blanket over her, he was glad she was sleeping, she looked like she hadn't slept at all last night. He grabbed a change of clothes to sleep in.

He walked out of the door to his room, There was no light on in his apartment, the only source of light was the bright moonlight flowing through his window. He'd have to thank her somehow, The dark thoughts that invaded his mind earlier had left. Still, there was the possibility that it would return, and he was glad she was nearby. After quickly changing he went back into the living room. He looked at the clock hung in the kitchen, it past midnight. He invaded his fridge to grab something to eat, as he realized he hadn't eaten at all today. He couldn't sleep at all, at least not until he filled himself with food.

The food he found would take too long prepare so settled on filling a pot full of water and put it over the stove, intent of preparing instant ramen for himself. A quiet knock filled his apartment as he waited for the water to boil. _'Who knocks after midnight?' _As he went to answer the door, when he did he was surprised as to he saw.

"Shikamaru?" He was dressed in civilian clothing, with no signs that he'd been to a funeral.

"Hey Naruto...mind if I come in?"asking quietly. Shikamaru noticed he looked like crap, but he looked like he was recovering.

"Sure I guess" Opening the door so he could come in, Naruto saw that he held a few things in his right hand. A scroll and a some sort of board along with a small bag he assumed held pieces for it.

"Thanks...I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd check up on you" The lazy genius said. He hadn't seen him at all today."You and Hinata weren't at the burial for...our good friend" He continued, walking down the hall. He looked towards a open door on the left, passing through he saw a form sleeping on the bed with midnight hair. _'So this is where Hinata was' _continuing to the living room.

"Yeah...Sorry for that..." Naruto looked away, He was ashamed that he missed the burials for his comrades.

"Don't worry about Naruto...Just give your respect to them in your own way" He said reassuringly, they met their gazes and he got a confirming nod from him. Satisfied, He put the stuff he brought with him on the coffee table and sat down on one the couches.

"As for why I'm here" He sat the board down, setting the pieces in place."Lady Hokage wanted me to hand some stuff to you..." He mentioned to the scroll on the table. "Just don't open it right now" seeing him grab the scroll.

Naruto inspected what it was. It was a sealing scroll, Naruto placed it back on the table, he didn't want to think about what was inside. "Sure no problem" He reassured Shikamaru.

"Anyways...I'll forgive you for missing my dad's burial if you play a match of shogi with me" Shikamaru suggested. He saw a small flicker of shame before nodding.

"Sure" Naruto agreed. He walked into the kitchen, He'd almost forgotten about his now boiling water."Want some ramen?" He asked, He heard his reply and picked up two ramen cups and 2 pairs of chopsticks. He unsealed the ramen cups and emptied the water into it. He walked back to where Shikmaru was and settled down their food on the coffee table. Naruto sat down opposite side of him. He watched as he finished setting the pieces.

"So how do you play this?" Naruto asked. Shikmaru carefully explained the rules in simple terms that Naruto could understand. Naruto hardly understood most of it, but did his best to attempt to.

"So...This is the king" He asked, pointing towards a piece with the kanji for king. Shikamaru nodded. "So I have to protect him and if he gets killed I lose?" he nodded once again. "Ok...so if I take yours out I win?"

"Yeah... that's pretty much it...and all different sets of pieces have unique moves" Shikmaru said. He saw a confused look on his face, He sighed a bit quietly _'I thought I explained this simply so he could understand' _He smirked. "Let's play a practice game...and I'll correct you whenever you make a mistake" He suggested.

"Yeah, alright let's do it" He could understand it better if he saw it in play. Naruto picked up his ramen and began eating, Shikamaru took his time explaining while they ate their ramen. He showed examples of moving the pieces, he showed basic strategies that went over his head. They played two practice games, After many mistakes and more explaining, Naruto finally understood how most of the game works.

"It's look like you got the hang of it" Shikamaru added, It took a lot more time than he thought it would, but a potential new partner who didn't let him win was worth the time. "Let's play a real game...so I'll be going all out this time"

"Alright, let's play" Naruto said. Shikamaru saw a spark of excitement in him, he smirked at this. Even he was getting a bit excited at new player to play against, even if he was a rookie. "Want more ramen?" He asked. Shikamaru nodded, and he went to the kitchen. He remembered tha the hadn't eaten at all today, but after seeing Naruto his appetite returned. _'Besides... the ramen actually tastes good' _He confessed to himself. Although he hoped he wouldn't develop a obsession with it.

He returned with another round of ramen cups, and while they waited for the ramen to cook, they started their game. Shikmaru was surprised at the 'strategies' he used, he did completely random moves, Nearly all his predictions that Shikamaru made were false, forcing him to slightly change his strategies nearly every move. It was almost frustrating for him, as Naruto took out one of his bishops. If he didn't already know Naruto, he might have thought he was playing against an experienced opponent. _'Except any level headed person wouldn't make any of those moves' _.

A relaxed atmosphere filled the air, the game was halfway done, both were engrossed in their game as told by their warm forgotten ramen. Shikamaru had nearly forgotten what he sought out to do, He only remembered when Naruto made his next move.

"Climbing silver huh?" Shikamaru remarked, He closed his eyes as he remembered Asuma explaining the move to him.

"Huh?" Naruto said, confused at what he said. Shikamaru smirked _'Of course he doesn't know it'_.

"It's a move when you sacrifice a piece to break your opponents formation" He explained. Naruto merely nodded. They continued playing for a few moves.

"Asuma explained that to me once..." He started. Naruto brought his attention to him, listening intently as he never really brought him up. "He also explained to me how the village was like a game shogi..."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. '_How is it like the village?'_, as he looked down at the board. Shikamaru seen his curiosity and continued explaining.

"He said that us ninja, are responsible for protecting the king...Do you know what the king is?"Shikamaru asked, making another move. He was entirely curious about his answer. Naruto heard his question, and he looked down at the board once again. _'It makes sense I guess...but... what if I was hokage?...' _Naruto made a quick move before replying.

"Is it the village?"He asked, a bit unsure about the answer. Shikamaru was a bit stunned by his response._ 'He sure does deserve to be hokage'_ he thought, making another move.

"Much closer than when I first answered...Asuma said that the king was the children of the village...It's our duty to protect the future of the village, and those are the kids" Shikamaru finished.

"Oh I get it" Naruto replied, Naruto was filled with doubt. _'Would I be able to protect them?' _ He dared not voice them. He made another move, and Shikmaru was forced to make in his famous thinking hand sign. _'Second time now' _He was a bit surprised at Naruto's unpredictability.

"I've seen the way you are Naruto... Since _it _ended" Shikamaru uttered quietly. Naruto looked up, and they shared glances. If he was surprised, Naruto didn't show it.

"You too huh?" He replied lowly, they still continued the game. The game was reaching its climax.

"I'm sure people close to you can see it...But I'm sure they don't want too" He added. The mood shifted from a relaxed air to a tense one. " So why continue the way you are now...Why hide behind this facade of yours?" He asked curiously. He knew how he was treated before he became a ninja, he'd had practice hiding himself. Naruto's eyes were downcasted.

"It's what my father said to me that day..." Naruto replied. His voice low, but from the deathly silence that filled the night and room it sounded clear as day. Shikamaru turned his attention from the game to him. Naruto explained the events to him on that night.

_ Naruto stared up at his father, his edo tensei eyes looked back at him. Naruto remembered that he will probably will never him again. He was going to be alone once more._

_ Minato stared into the destroyed eyes of his son. He had a few things to say to before he left. "I'm sure you know I have to leave now, I don't belong here anymore...and I want to join your mother" He said sadly to his only son. Naruto looked up at him, tears he wanted to shed didn't want to come. _

_ "I'll miss you...dad" He replied sadly, Minato brought himself down to his face to look eye to eye._

_"I Love you son...I know It hurts, but you can't recover alone. Don't close yourself from others because with your friends...they can help you through the pain you're feeling..._"

_Naruto closed his eyes as he listened to his father's last words, The pain was he felt was nearly unbearable._

"That's what he said to me...I see people's eyes when they look at me...They look me with such hope, so I just hide them away so they don't see it" He replied to him.

"That's all he said to you?" Shikamaru asked. He didn't show his disbelief to him. He saw him nod at his question. The genius thought there would be bit more that he would've said to him something much more personal. Shikamaru looked at the clock, it was almost two. His drowsiness was somehow returning, he didn't feel like sleeping over. As Hinata was in the other room, he didn't belong here at the moment. He looked down at the board, he had won the game. Nearly all of Naruto's pieces were defeated. He had him in a checkmate.

"Guess I'll be going then" He said to him, he gathered up the pieces quickly. He picked up a king piece, before putting it back on the coffee table. He picked up the shogi board and headed towards the door. "See you later..." As he closed the door and greeted the cool air of the night. He couldn't set out what he wanted to do, he doubted he could really get him back to normal.

Naruto sat on the couch after turning off the lamp, He was tired now, he looked on the table and saw his cold ramen and a shogi piece with the kanji 'king'. He ignored it but another itch in him began at Shikamaru's words. like earlier today, he was presented with another missing piece of a puzzle. He tried to ignore it and lied back on the couch. He needed too, or else those blackened thoughts would return. He wondered how long he had been lying down, he was exhausted but sleep didn't want to come. He started breathing heavily, and those dark thoughts danced around the edges. Desperately he tried to ignore but it seemed futile as his safe haven began to fade. A scream disrupted him. _'Hinata'_

In a flash, he was standing in his room in tailed beast chakra mode, His fiery-like cloak lit up the room, with colors of orange and yellow. His chakra spiked in anger as quickly looked around for any possible intruder, He looked towards the sealed window to see if it had been broken, it wasn't. Remembering that he could feel negative emotions, he quickly searched around for any nearby but he didn't. Before he could ask what was wrong, he felt something soft slam into him encasing him in a warm hug.

"Naruto!" She cried in relief. Relieved that he was still here, alive. At his realization that she had a nightmare, he turned off his cloak and returned her warm embrace.

"I'm here Hinata...I'm right here" He rubbed her back affectionately, She continued to cry on his chest, and he felt his shirt wet from her tears. Gently, he picked her up while she continued to sob. He carried her over to his bed and sat down. With his back against the wall for support he cradled her while she cried.

"P-Please don't le-leave me" She pleaded, hugging him tighter. He hesitated, "Please..." She said more quietly.

"I won't...I won't" He promised to her.

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**A/N: Sad right? At least I hope I made you feel that way. I'll make it up for you I promise.**

**Also Naruto was suffering from something called a night terror nothing like nightmare, If you ever had them. You know it's horrible.**

**Reviews help me write better and make me want to put out chapters faster.**


	7. Sharing

Chapter 6: Sharing

**A/N: I didn't want to leave it on such a depressing chapter, so here's a much happier one.**

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Hinata felt something warm, soft and protecting encased around her. She felt extremely safe and somehow a bit happy. Contrasting to what happened yesterday, which had filled her with such dread. The moment still hadn't left, so she was content with sleeping more. She then had a whiff of his scent. She waved it off, knowing she had spent the day with him yesterday. In her happy mood she began to daydream about Naruto as she tried to sleep. She was about to doze when the daydreaming got a little more risqué.

Hinata moaned as she felt a something rub against her, In that _specific _spot. She was starting to feel a little hot, A particular spot on her neck seem to burn a bit. She knew what she was feeling but she hadn't felt like this in a while. Her face started to flushed and she felt it wasn't right to feel like this right now. Something was seated between her legs as she moaned once again from its movement. She took in a the deep breath to calm down, It was a mistake as the aroma she took in was from _him_, It started to feel more rich.

The faint scent of ramen along with the stronger smell of his masculinity. Her arousal intensified from his scent and with her thighs she squeezed together whatever that was between her legs, oddly it felt much more solid than a pillow. She wanted to be touched more, especially by him. She was tempted to reach down below to get rid of the warm tingly feeling. She felt slight pressure against her chest and she moaned, giving in, she licked her lips in anticipation and started to reach down below before she heard a small grunt.

Remembering where she was ,she opened her eyes in horror. Almost immediately she recognized where she was. In _his_ room, on _his _bed. She lied down, seeing his enticing and inviting lips, the movement between her legs was from his leg that seated itself against her_. _Naruto's arms were wrapped around her, one around her waist and another under her. Before panic and mass embarrassment could reach her, Naruto quickly pulled her closer holding her more tightly, As her breasts pressed against his lean chest she moaned in pleasure, as her arousal had not yet faded. He moved slightly-and with her bra slightly undone- rubbing her sensitive nipples against him. Eliciting a louder moan from her.

Naruto rested peacefully, he was reluctant on waking up. He felt entirely comfortable and he felt so warm. He hadn't felt so rested in a while. He pulled the large soft and warm pillow towards him, He thought he heard something but ignored it as it might have come from outside. A content sigh passed through him, and he took a few deep breaths to take in the wonderful scent. _'It smells like Hinata-chan' _He noted. He took in a few more breaths to savor the smell. He slightly moved to get comfortably, This time it was louder, a feminine moan, it sounded like it was right next to him.

He sleepily opened his eyes, he slowly recalled where he was, and who he was with. The first thing he saw was the door exiting his room, another was her beautiful hair, He looked slightly down to look into her eyes but she didn't meet his gaze. He saw what he thought was embarrassment in her eyes, but it seemed different along with another emotion he couldn't identify. Her face was extremely red and Naruto realized his big soft pillow was actually Hinata. He recalled his arms and legs, letting her go, as he knew that whenever they touched, no matter how brief or minimal caused her to blush.

"Sorry Hinata-chan" He apologized, still tired. Except it was a lie, he wasn't sorry, He actually liked it, she felt so soft and warm. He got up from his bed and looked at her, wondering why she didn't respond right away. She sat up, her face was still bright red and he saw her biting her bottom lip in a cute manner, she still avoided his eyes. She slightly nodded, acknowledging his apology. He saw her gulp a bit, and he decided to give her space, Getting up he went over to his dresser to gather a change of clothes, "I'm going to take a shower, so I'll be back" He yawned and headed to the bathroom,

Hinata, hearing the door the close started to relax considerably but she still felt the effects. She breathed deeply to calm herself. _'I-I was about to d-d-do __**that**__ with him next to me!' _She started to feel light-headed at her hyperventilating. When he awoke, in her state of distress, she avoided looking directly into beautiful rich cerulean eyes of his, as she thought she might pounce on him if she did. She was able to restrain herself, but when he spoke and with his husky voice and added suffix to her name, she nearly acted on it. '_He sounded so...so much sexier' _She blushed red at her choice of words.

She was immensely ashamed of herself at her thoughts, she wanted to fix her bra but she thought if she attempted she might give in. She heard the shower turn on _' and he's in there...naked' _she thought to herself. A perverse thought went through her, and she shook her in head in shame. She got up and quickly headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It was to distract and calm herself, she looked into the fridge to see what she had to work with. Nearly all ingredients were left untouched or unopened, as Naruto seemed to prefer eating out.

Naruto decided to get dressed in his ninja attire, If he had nothing to do today, he might as well start his fuinjutsu training. The only thing that was missing was his jacket, as he left it in his room. He would put it on later. He exited the bathroom, and immediately smelled the wonderful odor of delicious cooking. It left his mouth drooling and stomach growling, he followed the scent and it surprised him when it came from his kitchen. He entered and saw Hinata putting some finishing touches to the table and food.

"Wow..." He said. Seeing the food scattered on the table, '_She was able to cook that in like 20 minutes?" _ He looked hungrily as the contents scattered, Omelets with veggies and ham, buttered toast, breakfast sausage and spiced diced potatoes, even crepes wrapped around whip cream. All were separated into several dishes. It looked absolutely tantalizing.

"Y-You cooked all that for me?" He asked disbelievingly. Hinata had heard him enter, and she took immense pride in herself when he looked longingly at the food she had made hastily. She had giggled a bit when she saw drool hanging down the side of his mouth. _'If he looked at me like that'_ She beat down the thought. But she couldn't deny at the joy she felt this morning.

"H-Hai" She said reassuringly, She had done it to distract herself from her earlier stimulation. Regardless she would have cooked for him, even if she hadn't felt the way she did this morning. He looked at her, and her heart skipped a bit as she saw a bit of affection.

"Thank you" He smiled a bit at her. Taking a seat on the knee-high table. Hinata remembered that he was always alone before, and no one had really made him breakfast other than on missions. _'Naruto-kun's not alone anymore...He's got his friends...and me' _She blushed a bit at both her thoughts and his heartfelt thanks.

"Come on let's eat Hinata-chan!" He called out enthusiastically. Hinata nodded and blushed at the suffix, she sat herself down. She was happy he added the suffix, as she thought he accidently added it because he had just woken. She looked at him lovingly, his hair was still damp and hung over his blue eyes, he was wearing his tight fish-net shirt which snuggly fit against- She looked away and turned her attention to the food. She couldn't begin to think about that, not when she worked so hard to get rid of it.

"Itadakimasu!" He called out.

"Itadakimasu" Hinata followed. Hinata saw him reach for several pieces of food to put on his plate. She watched a bit worriedly as he reached to take a bite out her food. _'I hope he enjoys it...' _ She watched as he finally took a bite, and his eyes grew wide in surprise,

"This is..." He started. Hinata was nearly heartbroken that he didn't like it, and was about to apologize when she heard him finished . "...amazingly delicious". She watched as he quickly reached out for more and devoured the entire omelet in a single bite. She smiled widely in delight, She wasn't disgusted at all in the slightest as he engulfed a crepe, she was just...happy. She giggled when she saw a bit of whip cream was smeared on his face.

Naruto remembered about the young woman in front him, when she giggled. He looked questioningly at her, with a brow raised. She reached out to his face and wiped the whip cream off of his chin. She brought her finger to mouth and licked it off. She quickly blushed at such a bold act. The smile he gave her made it all worth it, as he returned to eating. She grabbed a few items to eat. Naruto remembered his manners and ate a bit more slowly for her.

"Umm-Naruto-kun?"

"What's up Hinata-chan?" He questioned

"W-Well, I wanted t-to ask about before we left to the vi-village" He looked up from his eating waiting for her to continue. "Well, you said so-something about your mo-mother" He saw him smile slightly, a little genuine smile. She saw a slight sparkle in his eyes, one that she seen at the dinner get together.

"Yeah... I was able to meet my mom when I went to control Kurama's chakra" He said to her. She gasped in surprise, "We talked...She wanted me to be a excellent shinobi, She wanted a whole all lot of things for me" He smiled a bit, Hinata was glad that he was sharing such private moment with her. "Not all of them happened though...one of the things was to eat vegetables and eat nutritious food," She giggled, and Naruto decided that he liked it when she laughed.

"Hehe...you know how that turned out huh?" She nodded, knowing of his ramen obsession. "Well you know what? If I have to eat your food I don't mind at all!" He called out eating more food. Hinata deeply blushed at his compliment and at the possible connotation that she associated for making food for him. She could only hope it would happen. In the near now possible future.

"I'll be right back" He said suddenly, and walked off to his room. She wondered what made him go off, after hearing a few frustrated grunts and 'where is it' he finally came back, with a photo frame in his hand. "I wanted to show you this..." He took a seat beside her, and handed her the frame, ignoring her blush at the close contact she took a look at the picture she was given. She looked incredulously at the red-haired woman, she could obviously see that Naruto inherited her good looking features.

"She's b-beautiful...Especially her hair...What's her name?" She said to him.

Naruto looked at Hinata, still smiling. _'Guess that makes 3 people huh mom?...' _. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki..." He looked back to the photo. "I wish you could have met her y'know" He said. Hinata nodded, she wondered what his mother would have thought of her. _'Would she...approve of me?' _and promptly blushed.

She looked at the 4th hokage that sat next to her, She wondered why no one before had seen the resemblance they shared in Naruto, they both had the brilliant blue eyes and spiky blond hair. She had always thought that Naruto was handsome, and now she saw where he got it from. She was beyond honored at Naruto sharing what little he knew of his family. She hoped he continued like this, as she wanted to find out everything about him.

Naruto looked at the emotions that spread across her face as she looked at the photo. He saw gratefulness , admiration at his parents. He saw numerous blushes emerge and diminish, he was ecstatic that she was rather fond of his mother's hair, he felt an odd sensation build within him. She looked up at him, with a bit of love in her eyes, His eyes wondered to her lips, pink and luscious, he pondered how soft it would feel against his, He looked back into her pale eyes. He looked away, messaging his cheeks with a hand as to lessen a faint blush. _'what's wrong with me...'_and hoped she didn't see his faint reddened cheeks.

When Hinata had looked up at him, she was a momentarily stunned at the emotions that played into his brilliant eyes. She saw tenderness and affection, and what stunned her the most was that it was directed towards her. His eye's had flitted slightly downwards, Her keen eye's had shown to her that he was staring at her lips. He looked back up to stare into her eyes, She didn't dare move as he slightly leaned towards her, as to embrace her in a kiss. Her breathing stopped and, oddly, she didn't feel any sort of heat rushing to face. She held back at visibly showing her disappointment when he recovered. She felt a bit of pride swell in her, when she saw a faint blush adorn his handsome face, proud that she was able to elicit such an reaction from him.

"Th-thank you...f-or showing me yo-your parents" She voiced. She resisted pouting her lips at her stutters, A bit annoyed that such boldness didn't carry on to her habits she disliked. She watched as subtly adjusted himself, and returned to his normal self. As if he was unaware at what he didn't carry through.

"It's no problem!, I've actually been wanting to share this with you" He said to her. She nodded, still thankful. She remembered the events of yesterday, she had missed Neji's burial, she had to pay her final respects to him. She looked at the clock-3:30-and she was surprised that they had slept so long. She looked back at Naruto and noted her lack of nightmares when they shared the bed. _'I've had a very pleasant dream when I slept with...slept in the same bed with Naruto-kun'._ She thought. Another night sleeping with him, would prove her theory, If she ever got another chance.

"Na-Naruto-kun?" He looked towards her, a brow raised, waiting for her to continue. "I-I thought you mi-might want to accompany m-me...since we missed yesterday" She asked him, she didn't want to bring it up, but she didn't want to postpone at paying her respects.

"Right...Of course I'll come with you" He replied, She saw a solemn look in his eyes as he looked towards the ground. "We'll go right now if you want" He suggested. Hinata nodded.

"I-I need to return home first...My father must be worried and I must ch-change" She noted.

"Right but first I'll clean this up..." Naruto pointed towards the dishes.

"N-No Let me, I made the fo-food so-"

"Nope! That was delicious, you cooked so you don't have to do anymore, besides you're the guest right?" He insisted. Hinata had to nod at his logic and she only knew Naruto's legendary determination. He quickly made clones and got to work on cleaning. Hinata sat awkwardly on the couch not sure what to do. Remembering the state of her bra she decided to refresh herself, and headed into his bathroom. As she looked at herself in the mirror in his bathroom she was suddenly aware of her appearance.

_ 'Na-Naruto-kun was going to kiss me like this?!" _She was appalled, another blush rolling to her face in embarrassment. Her hair was in a disheveled state, Her eyes were a bit red from yesterday's tears. She adjusted her bra to a more comfortable position and cleaned herself up. She stood in the mirror, a hand went to her lips in a thoughtful manner. _'He was...going to kiss me...and he didn't care'_ A smile lit up on her face. _'Naruto-kun doesn't really care about appearance...'_ The thought entered her mind, But it was a double edged sword. _'Does he...Does he think I'm pretty' _She stressed, and more doubt entered her mind as she tried straightening her hair more with her fingers, which reminded her of what he said to her. '_No. He said my hair was beautiful...Beautiful long'_ She finished. She decided she would continue to grow out her hair.

When she exited the bathroom, and Naruto had just finished cleaning up as he exited his room. He was dressed in his usual ninja attire.

"Umm.. Naruto-kun?" She questioned.

"What's up?"

"You're go-going to dress Li-like that?" She was curious as to why. She saw a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yeah..." He saw the genuine curiosity in her eyes and in her voice. "I'm going to honor him...In my own way y'know?" He didn't know how to word it, and hoped he didn't offend her dressing like he usually did. He saw her eyes sparkle in understanding and with a faint smile, she nodded. He smiled back, happy that she understood what he tried to convey. Together they made their way towards the Hyuuga compound.

Arriving, The guards let the heiress proceed with her guest, both raised a brow that Naruto had noticed but disregarded it. Hinata had decided to bring him along with to her room, She reasoned that since she saw his room, he should see hers.

"Woah...This is place is pretty big" Naruto commented. After walking through several halls. "Pretty fancy too..." He finished, seeing the hardwood floors, statues and numerous Hyuuga's wearing their fancy garbs.

"H-hai... " Before she could elaborate further a branch house hyuuga member came up to them. Blocking entry as they were outside her room.

"Hinata-sama... I see you've returned" She bowed. The young Hyuuga woman took a curious glance at who she was with. The young hero of Konoha. She stored this information to share for later. "Hiashi-sama is away today, but he wishes for a reason for why you were not present for yesterday"

"umm-Hai... I was with a go-good friend" She replied, a bit worried she was going to be reprimanded.

"I see... " She took another peek towards the blond teen. "Hiashi-sama wishes to reassure you this act is admissible...I shall relay to him that you were with Uzumaki-sama" She replied, Leaving, after seeing her reaction. She was definitely going to spread it to her friends. The hyuuga heiress and the young savior ,a very pleasant distraction to gossip about.

After they had finished talking, Hinata mentioned to Naruto as she disappeared into a nearby room. Naruto followed inside closing the sliding door, he took in the sights of her room. It was mostly Hyuuga-like but it still contained some of her essence and femininity, A window large enough to get in was on the left side of the room. A small shelf under the window held some colored lavender and orange flowers, filling the air with a pleasant odor. It was very tidy, nothing was on the floor and the bed sheets were tucked in, contrasting his room. A large dresser sat on the right with what he assumed was a entrance to a closet. A large bed sat at the end of the room nearly covering the back wall, a bathroom sat to right-end corner of the room.

"I'll be ri-right back" She said to him, grabbing a change a clothes. She quickly entered the bathroom. _'He's in my ro-room' _She felt a bit giddy at this realization. '_Will he be here more often' _She started blushing heavily at what that required to happen. She took several deep breaths to calm herself _'W-What's with me to-today?'_. She quickly discarded her mourning clothes from the day before, and taking an inspiration from Naruto, got dressed in her ninja attire with her favorite lavender sweater. She opened the door to see Naruto looking over a pair of colored orange and lavender dahlias, he had a thoughtful expression.

"Y'know...I never realized it but Lavender and orange do look good" he said nonchalantly. Hinata blushed at the obscure connection between them both, she had the same thought a few days before. "Sort of... uplifting I guess" As he scratched his head.

"H-Hai" She most definitely agreed with him.

"Can I water them?" He asked, turning towards her. He had a hopeful expression on his face, eyes full of eager anticipation. She couldn't refuse him, he seemed so excited . He quickly grabbed the small pail on the shelf and carefully watered the plants. "Y'know I enjoy doing this" He confessed. "Watering plants" Naruto clarified. Hinata had a smile on her face, everything that she found out more about him, made her fall in love with him even more, no matter how small.

"Let's get going then" He said to her. Finishing his watering. He looked towards her, she nodded at his suggestion and heading out off the hyuuga compound. The walk towards the cemetery was quiet. As they arrived at their destination, the reality of war coming back to them. They passed numerous freshly dug graves. The many flowers adorning the multitude of graves, mementoes of them left behind, decorating the stones. Together they stopped at his.

They stood in silence, side by side, looking at the grave. Memories flowing back into them. '_I...I wasn't strong enough_ nii-san...' Her throat constricted. She tried to swallow the lump, and tears threatened once again to fall. Naruto looked at the grave, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. His death flashed before him. He clenched his teeth, his final words resounded within him, The despair he had felt and what pulled him out. He opened his eyes. His life was connected to those who risked their lives for him, for believing in him. His parents, Jiraiya, Nagato, Neji and countless others. He looked to the young woman to his side, she was connected to him too, for she risked herself numerous times for him without fear. She was always by his side. _'Neji...Thank you...'._

He watched as she tried not to cry, her eyes full of sorrow. He could see the internal fight she was having in her pale lavender eyes. He molded his hand over hers, It felt gentle, soft. He liked holding her hand. He observed as the internal conflict within her had started to fade. He smiled ever so slightly. They looked into each other's eyes, her elegant orbs sharing her gratefulness, and she saw his pain, pain she saw from yesterday. They continued to hold hands, to share their sorrow from the deaths of the people they considered brothers. One day the pain they feel now, will eventually fade.

* * *

_Kushina_

_**Weirdness**_

"You're so weird did you know that" The tall spiky blond said to the red-haired woman.

"So What?! That just means I'm better y'know!" Kushina retorted, a bit angry and hurt that he said such a thing to her. She wanted to punch him, but she was able to restrain herself. She also wanted to retort that he looked girly, but she married him, so it wouldn't exactly have the desired effect.

"And that's what I love about you..." He smiled at her. Kushina was unprepared for the sudden affection, and she felt heat rush up to her face. She looked into his eyes and saw no traces of deceit.

"R-Really? What's a weird thing you like about me y'know?" She asked quietly. Still flustered that he said such a thing. He had a disarmingly smile as he pulled her into a hug. She returned it a moment later.

"Well one thing I love is" He said as he weaved his fingers between her hair, She loved the feeling when he did that "...is your smooth beautiful red-hair" He said to her. Kushina remembered in her child hood that she was relentlessly teased about being a tomato. She loved her hair now, Because he loved it.

"I already know that y'know" She replied, reveling in his caressing of her hair.

"I know... but I hadn't said it at all today" Kushina hoped he'd never stop saying it. " But another thing I love..." Kushina felt a finger on her chin, he wanted her to look up, when she did, she stared into his blue eyes she loved so much. " Is your violet eyes-Never seen anything like it" He finished. Her blushed deepened, but her anger still resided.

"Is that it..." She saw him shake his head, and she was thankful for it.

"...And just like me, your impossible determination is another thing...But I also love your 'y'know' you know"

"What! How can you love that annoying verbal tic y'know!" She felt flustered and embarrassed that he loved such a ridiculous thing. She felt butterflies around in her stomach and it worsened when he leaned down closing in to her ear. She felt the blood flowing through her veins, the heat on her cheeks rising as he inched closer. She felt his body press against hers.

"Because I know... When you get excited" He whispered provocatively. Kushina experienced her heart flutter and her breathing hitch from his words. He pulled away from her ear and captured her in a kiss, her hands roamed his body and she wanted to feel more. Much more. She pouted when he retreated from their kiss.

"And that's some of the things what I love about you"

* * *

**A/N: It actually wasn't supposed to get lemon-y at the end. Now I feel like I'm writing myself into a corner for a lemon, especially for all the tension between Hinata and Naruto. Or did write myself in already?**


	8. Roadblocks

Chapter 7: Roadblock

**A/N: Have a happy new year!**

* * *

Naruto groggily woke up, the early morning greeted him happily. He resented it, He felt like he hardly got any sleep at all. _'Why couldn't it be like yesterday?'. _The only good thing was that his dreams were non-existent. Feeling hungry, he quickly made his way into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As he checked the fridge as he noted there were far too many ingredients that confused him, as they were given to him as a gift, the apartment was as well. He decided to cook eggs, ham, breakfast sausage, and toast. Once he finished he sat down on the table with his fresh food. He thought he would have devoured it already, except the food didn't even close to being appetizing as when Hinata made breakfast. Taking a bite, It even tasted a little dull, nowhere near the mouthwatering food. _'A bit lonely too...'_ He thought to himself. It was one the main reasons why he preferred to eat at Ichiraku. He quickly finished his breakfast without tasting. _'Gotta have more of her food'._

With nothing better to do Naruto had decided to practice his fuinjutsu, since he had been neglecting it. Traveling to a nearby training ground and avoiding anyone that might disturb him. Naruto attempted to read the scroll he picked up from Jiraiya's and his father's library, He had been trying to read and attempt to understand but he found that he couldn't concentrate at all, the words seems to pass right through without him noticing. _'I've been sitting here for hours!'_ He yelled at himself.

**"No you haven't..."** Kurama observed, he had been sitting down for only half an hour.

"SCREW IT" He ignored the fox. Giving up, he decided to proceed without reading and looked at the necessary hand signs to do the jutsu, as he wasn't proficient enough to do without them.

"**Don't do it you baka, you don't understand it yet!" **Kurama warned.

"Whatever Kurama, I learned the multi-shadow clone jutsu without understanding, I could do this no problem!" He proclaimed, after completing the hand signs needed.

**"You're going to regret it..."** Although Kurama was a bit worried he might get it on his first try. Naruto ignored his warning

"Finger carving seal jutsu!" He felt his right hand feel a bit hot, _'it must mean it's working'. _

** "Nope"** Kurama simply stated,relieved. He'd seen how the jutsu worked, it wasn't like that at all.

"Shut up!" Naruto retorted, He felt his hand get more hot, making him uncomfortable. He decided to test it on a nearby rock but when he reached for it he suddenly felt the heat in his hand raise, causing him pain. "AHH!" His hand clenched in pain. It felt like his hand was on fire and on instinct, he attempted to burn out the 'fire' on his hand. He attempted to rub it on his signature orange and black jacket. The technique easily burned through the fabric, creating smoke. He desperately tried to take to take off his jacket, thinking it was on fire too. Kurama chuckled at this, _'That will teach you'_, and after a few moments of watching him panic he decided to give him advice.

"**Release the jutsu you moron" **Kurama suggested. Naruto quickly complied and released it. He sighed in relief as the jutsu faded, his hand felt numb. He looked around for his jacket that he discarded in his panic, it was on ground behind him and looked upon the smoldering ruins leftover from his experiment.

"Dammit! That was my last jacket!" He berated himself. It was a lie but he didn't want to wear the last Jacket he owned. It had painful memories and dried blood that didn't entirely belong to him.

"**Now you should properly read it, like everything else that involves fuinjutsu" **The fox warned.

"This sucks... I can't concentrate, like this" He picked up the destroyed jacket and put the scroll into the bag. Kurama had noted his lack of concentration, a bit unusual since Naruto loved learning new jutsu.

"**Get a partner..."** Kurama suggested. The fox knew the first person he would think about and he was curious about her too, he wanted to talk to her face to face to find out what made her so special to Naruto.

"I already thought about that, but I don't want to bore Hinata-chan" Naruto replied. Kurama raised a brow. _' I guess I should pay closer attention to his thoughts' _Kurama thought.

"Yosh! Naruto-kun!" Naruto would know that voice anywhere. He saw Lee sprinting at him, and stopping right before him.

"What's up Bushy brows?" He asked the work-out freak

"I see your partaking in the advantage of your youthfulness!" Lee yelled. Happy tears flowing down. " I'm doing the same...So Naruto-kun can we train together, two is always better than one!" He finished.

"Oh- I'm actually training in fuinjutsu, which is not about taijutsu or working out" He explained.

"I see but a comrade can help you whenever you're troubled" Lee replied

"I guess..." Naruto thought about it for a moment."Alright! I'll try continue reading...while you do...stuff I guess"

"YOSH! Let us put all of our youth into this Naruto-kun! He yelled out. Naruto got a bit pumped, excited that he'll finally be able to get some training done. Except he was wrong as Lee kept asking questions about what he was doing, distracting him with his work outs, or yelling about 'youth' and stuff. He was able to absorb some things he read, but his frustrations were building.

"I'm sorry Bushy brows but I can't concentrate when you're like that" He confessed.

"Huh... Like what Naruto-kun?" As he kept panting to complete 4000 push-ups.

"Like what you're doing, I uuhh- think I need to find a new partner" He replied. He saw Lee as he threatened to cry, he hid his lips and tears started to build in a very exaggerated manner. _'Geez...'_

"I understand Naruto-kun! I just wish I was able to help with your youthful training" A few tears trailing down, Naruto felt a bit bad for telling him off.

"I'll make it up for you, how about a full on fight when I'm done learning fuinjutsu?" Naruto suggested. His proposal made Lee wallop in joy as he hit a nearby tree. "I'll leave you with a some clones for now"

"YOSH! I can't thank you enough for the opportunity Naruto-kun" The green clad ninja proclaimed. Naruto quickly made 100 clones to spar with lee and proceeded on his way. _'Never really saw Bushy-Brows too much, even when he lives right next to me'_ Naruto already felt the extinguishing of several clones. _'Guess he trains all day...'_

Naruto proceeded to the Hyuuga compound, he didn't want to bother her. But he also wanted to spend more time with her as well. He thought it was a bit selfish of him when she wasn't getting anything in return."No wait... I could teach her something so she won't be so bored! why didn't I think of this sooner?" As he walked to the where the Hyuuga compound was located, he discarded his jacket in the trash. He had to go without it for now, as he ignored the ogles he got from the ladies in his snug fish net shirt. He thought about what he should teach to her, what complimented her style in close quarters. After a few moments of contemplation he walked a bit faster, excited at the prospect of training with Hinata.

After a brief stop inside a small toy store and gathering his needed items. Naruto came up to hyuuga compound, the wall formed around several buildings in a protecting maner and saw a gateway formed with the wall signifying the entrance. Two hyuuga guards were stationed at this gate. He approached them to see if he can find the now only hyuuga he knew.

"Heya! Know where I can find Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked one of them.

"Oh... Uzumaki-sama?" He was bit honored to meet him.

"Yo that's me but no Honorifics alright? Just Naruto is fine" He explained.

"...Of course...I'll alert Hinata-sama right away" The guard was bit bewildered. He was a hyuuga and avoided speaking about such a magnificent ninja in that way at all. He got away before he felt uncomfortable, leaving the other guard alone. The other one saw the exchange and hope to mercy he didn't talk to him at all.

"So do all Hyuuga's have long hair that you have?" Naruto asked the remaining guard.

"Yes... it is tradition..." He resisted the urge to say his name. Luckily he didn't have to talk anymore as the clan head appeared at the gate.

"Ah...It is an honor to have someone of your prestige visit the hyuuga compound... We haven't been properly introduced yet, I am Hiashi Hyuuga" Hiashi said. Naruto remembered him when the hyuuga's came to protect him, as well as the mention of his name yesterday with Hinata.

"Hey...So you're Hinata's old man huh?" Naruto asked.

"Yes... What business do you have with my daughter?" Hiashi asked. Genuinely curious about their relationship. He ignored the lack of respect already knowing of his attitude. If he was another person he would tried to set him straight at referring to him as such. Hopefully he wouldn't get such a nickname like the one he gave the hokage.

"Oh I just wanted to train with her, since I have to learn this one jutsu but it would be boring to go by myself" he explained.

"You wish to train with my daughter?" Hiashi asked. It definitely would benefit her, spending more time with him. "How would this benefit her?" Hiashi asked curious of his response.

"Oh I'm going to teach her the Rasengan y'know!" He flashed a grin at the clan head. Hiashi was a bit taken back by what he was going to teach her. Surprised at his daughter was going to learn such an advanced and powerful jutsu. Hiashi was definitely pleased. They were disrupted by Hinata's arrival.

"Na-Naruto-kun" as she came through the wooden gate. The two teens looked each other, taking in the moment with another. Hiashi saw more life fill her eyes right before him, all manners of brooding disappearing. _'Yes, she would be good with him...'._ He saw her turn eyes turn to worry when she had noticed him. Hiashi saw she was worried about him disapproving them. He felt a bit ashamed of himself, knowing he was the cause of her uncertainty. He doubted that even if he forbade them from seeing each other, they would still end up together.

"Naruto-san" He bowed. " I hope you treat my daughter with respect, have a pleasant day" He finished. He left the teenagers alone to their day. Hinata was visibly surprised, but she felt happy at his approval. She also felt a bit ashamed that she was ever worried about her father. _'He's changed...'_.

"Hey Hinata let's go train together!" He asked excitedly, bouncing towards her.

"Ha-Hai" She replied immediately. It was only when she was being dragged off towards a nearby training field, when she realized what he said. As they walked Naruto glanced at Hinata and grinned. Hinata could only feel her face heat at seeing his brilliant smile knowing it was directed at her.

"I'm glad that you're coming Hinata-chan" He said to her. Prompting a deeper blush from the hyuuga heiress.

"Umm... Are you s-sure?... I m-mean you could have asked someone else to h-help you" She replied back to him but she was glad nonetheless, and hoped she wouldn't send her off.

"Nope! You're the perfect partner for this hinata-chan" he reassured.

"O-Oh... I Just didn't want to be b-burden to you that's all" She replied. Naruto stopped walking, and she did as well

"Stop that,..." She looked up at him, she saw a bit of anger present. "You'll never be a burden to me...you've proved that many times" He continued softly. She saw his eyes sadden and Hinata looked down in shame.

"I-I'm sorry" she replied shamefully. She felt the two of his hands wrap around hers that were beside her body and held them between them. She looked up at him and silently reveled in the warmth he gave off. It still felt exactly like she remembered it. It made her feel safe, It made her feel stronger.

"I promise you that... and I want you to promise me too...Because we share our nindo y'know" He smiled at her. A brilliant smile only he could achieve was on his face, along with the fire in his eyes that she had missed so much these past few days. It made butterflies go off in her stomach, and her head go woozy. She ignored it and gave her answer.

"Hai, I promise" She smiled back. Remembering that she promised herself she would be at his side, and had she acted like she wasn't capable. _'I'm stronger than I was before'_ she said to herself. _'Standing here with him is proof of that'_.

"Great! and because of that I going to teach you the rasengan!" He yelled out. Dragging her along once more with him to the training ground. As they left villagers and ninja alike whispered this exchange between the Hyuuga heiress and the village savior. The gossip spread around quickly, for they were eager to replace any sad news. Some got a bit excited and followed them to confirm it, other teenage girl fanatics wanted to deny it and hurried up to obtain him before he was claimed by the other competition.

"A-A-are you sure you want to teach me the r-rasengan?" she asked. "It's y-your dad's jutsu" They sat crossed legged , facing each other in training ground three. Where Naruto had first became a ninja. Hinata realized he was only clad in his form fitting fishnet shirt. She bit her lip to distract her thoughts from getting anywhere.

"Yup! Totally sure It's because you're like me, it'll be fun!" He took off the pack that was on his back, Hinata wondered was inside, she quickly found out when he just spilled the contents out. 2 pack of balloons; dozen rubber balls, jutsu scrolls , random paper and two different books. One of the books looked like a journal but the other one was a green book, she was curiously about it but didn't get to see the name of the book.

"W-What all this for" She asked curiously looking at the contents. Naruto divided them separately for their tasks, side by side. He mentioned to the scrolls and books on her right.

"Well's this one's for me, Baa-chan wants me to learn fuinjutsu to help the biju" He answered. She gasped as she heard this.

"Na-Naruto-kun- isn't fuinjutsu quite difficult?" She asked. She had heard about the difficulty, it wasn't for everyone. She firmly believed if anyone could do it, he could. He regularly went up against more impossible odds. This shouldn't be a problem for him.

"Sure is!" he chuckled. "But I have to help them y'know... they entrusted me to help them"

"W-why do you have learn fuinjutsu to help them?" she asked, curious. Naruto didn't quite know how to explain it, until he decided to show her. He channeled his chakra, making the seal on his stomach on appear.

"Well I have do this" he quickly spread apart his shirt, showing the mark. Hinata looked in wonder at the lean muscles present on his stomach. She entirely unprepared for the sudden peek at the sight of Naruto's naked skin and fainted at the glory. She fell on her side, her face sported on rosy blush.

"Oh yeah..." Naruto remarked. How could he forget the effect he had on her. He decided to start on his fuinjutsu training and wait for her to wake up. He created a familiar hand-sign and sent the shadow clones to fill the water ballons. He picked up a scroll he was suggested that he'd practice on. ' The Finger Carving Seal', which would help him refine his chakra control which was over-average from his training with a one-handed rasengan. Fuinjutsu required precise control, any mistakes could be dangerous if created improperly. The shadow clones returned with the balloons, as he read and reread the scroll. While Kurama helped simplified the wording in the scrolls.

Hinata began to stir, signaling she was going to wake soon. _'Thank kami too... It was getting boring reading this over and over' _He thought. Satisfied with his reading he created a thousand shadow clones to practice the technique. _'If it's for them...then it's no problem, right Kurama?" _ He heard a grunt, but the message of approval was clear. Naruto waited patiently for her to wake up. His face contorted in annoyance as he felt the memories of people disrupting his clones.

Hinata awoken, but she kept her eyes closed to hold on to her pleasant dream. She remembered Naruto showing his chest, _'It was...wonderful'. _Yes, it was far better than the one's she had envisioned in her other dreams. Which gave her a blush. She felt comfortable and a content sigh escaped from her.

"Dammit!" she heard a voice she'd know anywhere and a pop of a shadow clone. She opened her eyes to find Naruto kneeling over her.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Feeling a bit flustered at his closeness. Even more so when she realized it wasn't a dream. She almost felt like passing out again when she saw the vast amount of shadow clones around sitting cross legged. All without his usual jacket she missed, but not that she didn't mind.

"Oh you're awake!.. that's good!" He said. He couldn't help but look at her while waiting for her to wake up. She looked so... relaxed, something he'd never noticed before as she was always a blushing mess. _'She's still cute, even like this'_ He brushed his thoughts away.

"Anyways I wanted to show you my seal that's on my stomach" he said. Waiting for her reply, so she wouldn't pass out again. He was still on his knees and waited for her. She got back in kneeling position and after a few embarrassing moments for Hinata to mentally prepare herself, she nodded. He lifted his shirt to reveal the seal, the seal that caused him such loneliness when he was young. She was entranced by the black spiral design as she leaned in closer to him. She hesitantly put a finger on the seal and started to trace the spiral pattern not noticing the shiver he gave. This was the seal that his father made, and help form into the man he was today.

"It's called a '4 element seal' " He said. It snapped her out of her reverie as she withdrew her hand. Blushing red at what she was doing, the feeling of skin of skin contact made her red like a tomato. Naruto found he missed the soft graceful touches she gave. He put his shirt back down.

"I'm s-sorry Naruto-kun for not be-being there for you" She said sadly. She wished she was stronger so he wouldn't have been alone.

"It's ok Hinata-chan... like I said before, it was because of you I made it this far and you're here with me-that's what count right?" he quietly said. She looked at him lovingly, as he shown a small genuine smile. She felt her heart flutter at his words and hoped that he will never change, to her he was perfect the way he was, everything. She nodded so slightly.

"Besides Kurama and I are good friends now!" Naruto said loudly. Hinata smiled at this, Naruto could be friends with anyone.

"You want to talk to him? Because he wants too...oddly" He said. Perplexed at Kurama's interest in her.

"Umm...s-sure" She was curious as to why such a powerful being would want to talk to her though. He nodded and she watched as he closed his eyes briefly. She watched in wonder as he undertook a transformation. The cute whiskers on his cheeks darkened considerably, His already wild blond hair seem harbor a feral look, his finger nails grew into claws. The biggest surprise was when he opened his eyes. Instead of the ocean blue eyes she loved, it was a crimson red color. This one excluded a different presence, it made her feel uneasy.

"**So..."**A deeper voiced called out, Startling her."**Your Naruto's vixen eh?" **Kurama stated.

"Wh-wh-What?!" Hinata stammered. Everyone else had started teasing them and now even the nine-tailed fox was starting too. He laughed loud at her reaction along with Naruto's. She watched as she saw a hint of curiosity Kurama had in his eyes.

**"I don't understand it...**. **One thing's for sure-I'll be seeing you a whole lot more"** He finished. A serious expression on his face. Hinata was confused by his input. She saw Naruto turn to normal, She welcomed the presence he excluded. She always missed it no matter how temporary it was.

"Naruto-kun, what did he mean?" She asked him. She sort of had an idea, it made her blush at what he possibly could have meant.

"I dunno he's not answering me" He looked a bit annoyed. "Great...How about we start on your rasengan training huh?" he proposed. Still in the same position he put sorted the items back into place, the scrolls missing. Hinata noticed a pack of balloons were filled with water. She was still curious with the book and journal though.

"Anyways the rasengan is a compressed form of chakra, It uses clockwise and counter-clockwise rotation and there's several steps into creating a rasengan... the first step involves the water balloons"He said. She nodded and noticed the look in his eye when he explained. _'Naruto-kun would be a great sensei'_ she thought to herself as he picked up a water balloon.

"You need to burst the balloon using the water with chakra by making the water hit everywhere at once" She watched him demonstrate, something seemed to try and claw its out repeatedly and after a moment the balloon burst-water wetting the grass. "That's the first step, watch it again with your cool eyes!" he suggested. _'c-cool eyes!?'_ She nodded ignoring her heated cheeks and activated her kekkei genkei. She watched in wonder at as the chakra rotated in different directions, she paid close attention to the rotation and the amount of chakra applied. The balloon burst once again.

"Am-Amazing..." She commented.

"Anyways that's how you do it... go on get started" he said happily. She smiled at his eagerness and went to pick a water ballon. "Oh crap!"

"I-Is something wrong Na-Naruto-kun?" she asked, startled at his sudden outburst.

"I forgot to teach you the shadow clone jutsu!" He shook his head at his forgetfulness. _'I was impressing her too..'. _He only remembered because another fan-girl caused a shadow clone to disperse. They were getting closer to where they were located.

"Yo-you want to teach me the sha-shadow clone jutsu too?" She asked. He nodded furiously, It was his most well known jutsu. Only he could use it with such mastery, but so was the rasengan.

"I'm absolutely certain y'know!" He reassured her. "Alright this is what you do" He demonstrated to her how to perform the shadow clone jutsu, His signature move. After only 20 minutes Hinata was able to perform it, with only a small waste of chakra.

"I-I did it..." Wiping the sweat from her brow that collected. She was proud of herself.

"You see I always knew you were awesome Hinata-chan!" He praised her, and Hinata couldn't help but blush at it. '_I-I'm awe-awesome?' _She watched as she seen him stiffen and cringe, a worried and annoyed look pooled into his eyes. She wondered what it was about, he looked over his shoulder. Except she didn't see anything.

"Umm...What's the ma-matter Na-Naruto-kun?" She asked. Curious as to why he got so annoyed, It wasn't her that was for sure.

"Huh? Oh-Just people who don't know how to not bother ninja who are training" He replied. He shivered as the fan girls had tried to kiss him, despite his clones attempts to make them stop as they were trying to train for something important. They insisted and looked out for the original, other people were curious with the possible relationship he was having with the hyuuga heiress. Rather than answer the clones resorted to dispersing. Those questions would have made him blush but he beat them down through sheer will.

"Some girls are trying to kiss my clones..." he commentated. He saw her reaction, as it was obvious to him. Her fists clenched and her eyes hardened. He wondered if she was aware of this, he smirked at her jealousy. "Luckily they dispersed before they even got close" He saw her relax slightly, but her eyes revealed to him that she was annoyed. Luckily they didn't know where he lived, and he'd have to make sure they didn't find out.

"Come on-let's go to my apartment" he said to her, he packed up his gear that he brought. Releasing his jutsu he felt all the experience flow into him. They hardly been here for more than a hour. A very slight fatigue filled him, and he reminded himself to tell Hinata of the benefits and dangers of shadow clones. "They're getting close...Let's run Hinata-chan!" He said playfully. Together he led her to his apartment, upon getting closer he made sure no one else saw him where he lived.

Getting inside, he went to sit on the couch and Hinata sat herself beside him, He was bit annoyed at the disruption. He didn't want to tell them off, but he didn't want to acknowledge them either, at both parties. He decided to tell her about the shadow clones.

"Hinata-chan" She looked towards him, she was trying to calm herself down from being in his apartment alone with him, especially since she felt those particular emotions when she was with him the last time she was here. She was silently thanking those fan-girls of his for giving her the opportunity. She cursed them as well for -lack of a better word- throwing themselves at him for truly not knowing him.

"H-hai" She replied.

"What do you know about shadow clones?" He asked, curious to see if she already knew about them.

"Umm... They're solid clones and used to train faster" She confessed. A bit ashamed at her lack of knowledge of the jutsu.

"That's okay" He reassured her, seeing her eyes fill with a bit a shame. He delved back into his teaching mode. "Anyways, shadow clones are used for spying, since you learn it's memories. Like you said you can train faster, but you risk getting yourself killed if you use too many clones, since the exhaustion accumulates" He nodded in understanding and Naruto felt his stomach grumble. He debated on getting some Ichiraku but when he looked over to Hinata to ask her to come. He had a much better idea.

"Uhh... Hinata-chan?" He asked. She looked into his eyes and she swore she saw embarrassment. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Umm... H-Hai, an-anything" She wondered what he wanted to ask, she dared not to jump to any conclusions.

"Can you... cook lunch for us?" He asked, a bit timidly.

"Wh-What? wh-why?" She was surprised by the question.

"Please!, It's tastes just as good as ichiraku-Almost better actually" He pleaded. Hinata was extremely flabbergasted that he said his cooking was better than ramen, for a moment she doubted it was actually Naruto that stood before her. That is until she looked into his eyes, It was definitely him. After her shock, came immense pride, happiness and little something within her ached. Her face heated at the compliment, she couldn't deny him.

"Umm..O-o-okay" She replied.

"Yes!" He cheered, raising both hands into the air. He was glad that he was going to taste her cooking once again. She smiled widely at his cheery reaction, with a little bounce to her step she stepped into the kitchen and happily prepared lunch. "Man- I hope those people don't bother us every day like what did today" Naruto commentated. She nodded but truthfully she would thank them, if they got them to do this every day.

"Those girl's are annoying y'know!" Naruto uttered to the midnight haired teenager beside him, She nodded. For the past 5 days they had kept disrupting their training sessions together, hardly getting a few hours of training each day. At least she was able to cook for Naruto during for those times. She vastly enjoyed cooking for him, and he greatly enjoyed eating her food. They walked together towards no direction in particular. More villagers had heard about their hero with the young teen. Most had assumed they were together now, an item. Much to the chagrin of all teenage girl admirers, but they wouldn't let up unless they got a firm confirmation from their favorite blond.

"Crap! I forgot to buy more food... How about some Ichiraku Hinata-chan?" He asked her. Although Naruto wouldn't outright admit it, he grown rather fond of being in the presence of Hinata, He noticed that she emitted some sort of aura around her, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. Hinata nodded, although she was a bit disheartened that she wouldn't be able to cook for him today. At least she was still able to spend the time with him. They quickly made their way towards the restaurant, as they neared they saw Shikamaru and Ino together waiting in front Ichiraku.

"Hinata!" Ino yelled out upon seeing the couple, As they approached Ino dragged Hinata off, so that the guys couldn't hear.

"What's up Shikamaru?" Naruto greeted. He gave a nod in acknowledgement, "So...You on a date with Ino?" Naruto asked, a little bit of mischievousness in his eyes that Shikamaru had to admit he missed. He smirked knowing of the perfect response to his accusation.

"Are you on a date with Hinata?" He retorted. Naruto flinched at the question, and Naruto sized Shikamaru up.

"I won't, If you won't" Naruto replied, giving the cloud watcher a firm look.

"Deal" Shikamaru agreed. Already knowing that Ino would do the teasing for him, she was much better at it than he was anyway. The girls had finished their little talk, and Naruto looked at Hinata as she returned blushing red. Ino still had a mischievous glint in her eyes, Naruto regretted ever suggesting to come here. He couldn't back out now, not to risk even more teasing from them. They went inside the ramen shop, making a little small talk. Teuchi was waiting behind the counter, He was surprised that Naruto finally came to eat some ramen, he saw the girl that he'd always seen beside Naruto.

"Ahh, Naruto you finally came, Hadn't seen you in a week" He commentated.

"Yeah, sorry about that old man" Naruto replied, sitting down on a seat. Hinata sat on his left while the other two on his right looked incredulously at him. Naruto not eating ramen in a week sounded a bit foreign to them, it was all he ever talked about. All around him with the exception of Hinata had a worried look upon their face.

"You haven't found somewhere else to feed you ramen have you?" Teuchi accused. Shikamaru and Ino looked curiously at Naruto. _'Of course, how did I forget he's doing this too'_as Naruto gulped. Teuchi spotted a quick look Naruto directed towards the hyuuga girl. "...Or someone" He added, after seeing the look. Naruto looked as he was caught peeping. A small silence filled the room.

"Oh my god! Hinata totally cooked for you!" Ino squealed in delight."Does that mean you two are going out" Shikamaru looked over in interest but kept to himself. Looking curiously at the blonde with her antics.

"Uhh-We ju-just trying to train Ino!" The blond stammered, Ino stared accusingly at him.

"How's that end up with Hinata cooking for you?" she asked, she looked over to Hinata who had a blush on her face. "How's cooking for him Hinata?"

"Umm...I-I enjoy it" She replied quietly.

"Aww... You guys are so cute together!-Let me guess, all you cook for him is ramen right?" She questioned. Curiosity burning into her eyes.

"Woah! How come I never thought of Hinata-chan cooking ramen! It'll probably taste better than Ichiraku y'know!" He loudly exclaimed. A pin drop could be heard in the ramen shop, Teuchi stammered in disbelief, Ino had her eyes wide open, Even Shikamaru was surprised by his outburst. All were sharing the shock that he said her cooking might be better than ichiraku. The ramen loving blond had never suggested a thing in his life time as they repeatedly heard him saying ichiraku could never be beat. Hinata blushed furiously from the praise once again _'Be-better than ichiraku?...'_

"What's wrong oldman? Get me some ramen already" Naruto said to him. Ignorant of the significance of what he said. After recovering and ordering their own bowls, the conversation drifted back to Hinata and Naruto.

"Naruto...Why are you training anyway" Ino asked.

"Yeah I didn't think you could actually get stronger" Shikamaru commented.

"Oh I'm working on fuinjutsu" Taking more bites of his ramen. Shikamaru stared at him for bit.

"Well If I doubted you now, I would be a shitty friend" He said.

"Why? Is fuinjutsu hard?"Ino asked.

"Yeah it is, but if Naruto was able to master senjutsu which I heard was much more difficult than fuinjutsu, he should be able to do that no problem" He explained. Naruto was a bit taken back by the compliment, but quickly resumed eating his ramen. Hinata was still curious as how Senjutsu worked and was about to ask when Naruto intervened.

"Yeah but we can't get any training done because of the fan girls that keep bothering us" Naruto said to them.

"Fan girls huh?...Troublesome" Shikamaru said.

"I keep hearing about you guys around the village too" Ino added."No wonder they're all over you"

Naruto was a bit puzzled as to why but ignored it, Hinata very well knew the reason and blushed but wondered why the village were so adamant about them. _'He's a celebrity now but this is personal...' _

"Anyways I think we need somewhere more private so we can actually train" Naruto explained their predicament.

"How about my compound?" Shikamaru suggested. Naruto shook his head.

"Nah... It's not big enough, I need to train with my clones" He reasoned. Hinata sighed in relief, not only she wanted to be alone with him but she didn't want to be open to the torture of their friend's teasing.

"So you need a place big enough to hold the abundant clones you can make, A place more private, and I assume you want to stay close to the village?" He a nod in confirmation. "Did you ask lady Tsunade for help?"

"Yeah... Baa-chan told me to tough it out" He grumbled in annoyance.

"yeah I got nothing" Shikamaru said. Naruto grumbled once more about 'stupid fan girls' as they resumed eating in a little comfortable silence. Naruto began thinking about any place that he could think of training with Hinata._'...No that's far, how about-No that's too small, arrggh!...If only there was places like Mt. Myoboku, So big and away from Everyo-Wait...That's it!"_

"I got the perfect place Hinata-chan!" He yelled out, Making the girl jump from her seat. "Oh sorry Hinata-chan" and brought his voice down."Anyways let eat for now, then I'll explain later" Hinata nodded, wondering where this place was. The group talked a little, The boredom they had to endure about the suspension of missions.

"Hey Naruto" Ino said, getting his attention. He nodded for her to continue.

"Yamato-sensei is up, I heard he's supposed to be out of the hospital in a few days" She explained. She knew he'd been purposely evading the hospital. She left out anything about Sakura. Ino had been trying to talk to her, except she refuses to utter a few words to her.

"All right sweet!" He nodded happily. "Man I hope we get to get out of the village soon, I mean it's cool and all but what are we supposed to do y'know?" He added.

"Be careful Naruto, I bet you're going to regret saying that" Shikamaru said. _'Naruto's basically the most famous shinobi now, he's probably going go on a whole lot of diplomatic missions'_ The lazy genius thought. He enjoyed the fact he wasn't him, as it would be far too troublesome to do. _'Politics suck... I'll enjoy it while I can until I become Naruto's assistant'_

"Nah...I don't think so" Naruto said, and got back to his ramen. After the two team 10 members ate their bowls, they waved farewell. Naruto wanted to eat more ramen, so Hinata sat in comfortable silence with him. Enjoying her time with him. She played with her hair, wondering how long she can grow it. Her hair grew a bit faster than normal and contemplated when Naruto would notice it. She watched as he devoured his ramen, his lack of manners as he slurped a noodle loudly. She was fine with it, It was part of his charm after all.

"Alright Hinata-chan" As he finished eating his ramen. "I have to do something before we start" He turned to her. "So let's meet back here in 2 hours alright!" He explained. Hinata nodded, a bit disappointed that they couldn't go right away. "I'm so excited to properly train with you Hinata-chan!"

"H-Hai, I am as we-well" She replied, she saw the excitement and anticipation building in his eyes. It made feel her feel quite giddy inside that he was just as excited. She gave him a warm smile. Which he returned, with just as much warmness. His smile made her feel light-headed. She hated and loved it, hoping that the feeling it gave her would never fade.

* * *

**_Omake_**

**Repellant**

"Bushy brows! Bushier brow-sensei!" Naruto called out. Running towards them in a training field.

"What is it my eternal rival's youthful amazingly strong student, the prodigy of all that is the power of hard-work and youth!" Gai announced loudly. Naruto was a bit taken back by all the sudden words, he said the words so fast he couldn't understand it.

"Whatever, you gotta help me!" He pleaded.

"Whatever you need Naruto-kun we help our comrades no matter the situation isn't that right Gai-sensei!" Lee called out.

"CORRECT LEE! Now what do you need?" Gai turned his attention the young blond hero.

"I need help to get away from some Fan-girls!" Naruto called out.

"ahh the youthfulness of true love" Gai commented. Striking a nice guy pose.

"What!? That's not love it's just worship bushier brow-sensei" Naruto explained. He heard the stampeding of the numerous girls approaching where he had left off from.

"He is correct, Gai-sensei if you want an example of true love then the better example would be Naruto-kun and Hinata-san!" Lee said as he proclaimed with a hand towards the air. Happy tears flowing down his eyes. "It's just makes me so happy and feel so youthful seeing them" He cried more, struggling to say the words.

Naruto blushed red from what he said. The screaming of girls took him out of it, as he looked behind them to see them approaching fast. "Oh kami, help me please" His pleas were on deaf ears as he turned to face the duo.

"Yes, my youthful student!... How could I ever mistaken such a thing" He replied, they ignored the pleading blond trying to call out to them. "You are so close to surpassing me, I feel like I succeeded in my endeavors of teaching you"

"You can't mean that Gai-sensei!" More tears flowing down.

"Of course I do Lee!" Gai's own tears trailing down his eyes now.

Naruto watched in horror as the fan-girls approach dangerously close, there would be no escape. That was, until a miracle happened. To Naruto's horror and relief.

"LEE!" he ran towards his student.

"GAI-SENSEI!" Tears flowing down his cheeks. Naruto shielded his eyes from the next thing he knew that was coming.

"LEE!" A Sunset with crashing waves filled the background. Kurama was graceful for this as he didn't know if would have been a genjutsu that could be broken. The girls behind Naruto watched in horror and disgust and the atrociously green clad ninja.

"GAI-SENSEI" As they embraced one another in a bonding moment between master and student. Screams filled the background, and Naruto took this opportunity to slip away unnoticed.

* * *

**A/N: My other story took off, already has a third of followers compared to this one, It's a Naru/Hina/Konan fic. **


	9. Dilemmas

Chapter 8: Dilemmas

**A/N: Annoying chapter to write and I had to repeatedly scrape it before I became satisifed. It was intially a much larger chapter but I shortened it and then it became a chapter all on it's own**

* * *

Hinata walked to training ground three, the late-afternoon rays etched upon her weary face. She yawned as she approached where Naruto had told her to meet, as they couldn't go the day before. She heard some giggling and she got closer, she saw Naruto surrounded by a few fan-girls fawning over him. Hinata felt a pang of jealously and a bit of frustration that they wouldn't be able to train alone. Again.

"Psst...Hinata-chan" she heard a loud whisper to her right, as she turned she saw Naruto hiding in some bushes away from the sight of the other girls. It brought a smile to her face, the one evading the girls was a shadow clone and the real one was right next to her. He gestured to her to follow him.

"Go-good afternoon Na-Naruto-kun" as they walked away from the girls. She took in the appearance of him. He was mostly dressed the same, orange track pants, a tight fish-net shirt that Hinata unconsciously licked her lips at. His Konoha hitai-ate tied to where it belonged, the difference was that he was dressed in a red cloak with black flame-like patterns adorned the bottom of it. She heard the whining when Naruto dispelled the shadow clone. She celebrated silently at her victory.

"Good afternoon Hinata-chan, Are you ready!" He yelled out. Naruto smiled widely at their greeting, it was fairly insignificant but he never really got to share it with other than his team and Jiraiya. Hinata nodded happily, her subdued vigor restoring in being in the presence of the endless energy that was Naruto. "Alright, Now what I'm going to show you is a surprise Y'know"

"Umm-Okay" Naruto has started to notice other small gestures, so when he saw her put on finger between her lips he got a little happy knowing she was excited.

"Although- I might have ruined the surprise by telling you it's a surprise or the next thing I'm about to show you" Naruto commented, as he rubbed his neck. Hinata just had to giggle at his antics. He gestured her to stay where she was and walked away from her, she wondered what he was doing but quickly got her answer. She saw as he put his thumb over his teeth and bite down, drawing some blood. "Summoning jutsu!" He yelled out. Suddenly she was standing in front large magenta colored toad. He had a large bowl like shield on its back, it held a spiked pole-like weapon in its hand, Hinata recognized him from the Akatsuki's attack.

"Sorry for the ungraceful entrance, but seeing as I'm here, I guess that you're ready Naruto-sama?" The large toad said to Naruto that stood on its head. The blond jumped down from his perch and into the ground. He approached Hinata close by.

"Don't worry about it and no honorifics...anyway meet Hinata-chan " He mentioned to her. "Hinata-chan this is Gamaken" He introduced to them both.

"Umm... Hello Gamaken-sama" as she bowed to the large toad.

"Sorry for dressing so ungraceful... I'm pleased to meet you, I don't have enough grace for the honor you bestowed to me Hinata-sama" As he bowed his head slightly in a formal matter.

"N-No please, it's alright Gamaken-sama" She replied.

_'They're so alike...'_ Naruto just had to sweat drop at their formal exchange and apologies they shared. "Alright, now that we're done, let's get going!" Getting both individual's attention, Naruto walked and stood in front of Hinata. "Alright for this to work Hinata-chan, I need to carry you" He said to her, and he got the reaction he expected and wanted. A adorable blush that painted itself onto her pale skin.

"Umm-Wh-where are we going?" She asked him. She decided to look at his shirt instead of his eyes so he couldn't see the anticipation she had in her eyes. Naruto could still tell by the finger between her lips.

"Like I said it's a surprise" He responded, taking off his cloak. He handed it to her to hold, which she promptly took. "Hide under here"

"O-Of course" Still blushing from what he going to do, she wondered where they were going. The only thing she knew was that it involved Gamaken. Naruto thought about the next thing they were going to do. He was sure she going to like it. The travel would be a bit unusual though.

* * *

Flashback

"Yo Geezer-sage!" Naruto called out. Crawling through the small entrance of the hut they resided in.

"What is it Naruto-boy!" Fukasaku questioned. "I heard you wanted to see me the other day, sorry I couldn't meet ya"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask if I could train here Y'know?" He asked.

"Of course you can, you're always welcomed here" Shima added. She was cooking breakfast and Naruto hoped she wouldn't ask him to stay.

"Like what Ma said, you're welcome to train here" The toad confirmed.

"Ohh- yeah, well you see I wanted to bring a friend along to help me train" He asked.

"Do you know what you're asking Naruto-boy?" Fukasaku asked. It was quite the privilege to even visit here. There wasn't a lot of people who had set foot on Mt. Myoboku.

"Nope- not at all" Naruto simply replied.

The old sage chuckled at his answer, how could he expect such a thing. "Anyways do you absolutely trust whoever this person is" he clarified.

"Of course I do!" He immediately said "With my life" He vowed once again. Fukasaku saw no hesitation and he saw absolutely no doubt once again, he expected it from his student.

"Then , I see no problem with it, but I very much like to meet this person you speak of Naruto-boy"

"Awesome!" He pumped his fist into the air."So how do I get them here?" he asked a bit impatient to get back.

" Like what you're father did you can go inside a toad and return here, you also have to do this to get back to Konoha or you can ge-"

"Alright! no problem y'know!" He gave a thumbs up.

"Naruto-boy there's a be-"

"Just send me back already " He said impatiently. "come on!" interrupting the toad once again. Fukasaku complied begrudgingly.

"Poor boy doesn't know he could just have the person sign the toad contract" He commented.

"He likes eat the flies before he knows it tastes good" Shima added.

"Hah- We'll just leave him be , I hope I get to see his face when he finds out" The small toad prayed.

When Naruto returned to the training ground, he immediately summoned Gamabunta. The chief toad sat proudly.

"What do ya need kid? I was just about to enjoy some sake" The scarred toad asked.

"I wanted to ask if you can help me bring someone over to Mount Myoboku" Naruto said to him. Gamabunta looked at him for a moment.

"Heh, Your father asked the same thing for your mother..." He said as he chuckled.

"So does that means you'll help me chief toad?"Naruto said excitedly. Gamabunta took a smoke from his pipe before replying.

"Are you kidding! The Great Gamabunta doesn't get resorted to being your personal carriage!" He yelled out angrily and dispersed himself. After a moment of curses Naruto summoned another toad. The smoke cleared to reveal Gamabunta's son, Gamakichi.

"Yo, what'cha need Naruto!" Naruto explained his situation to him, He was more lenient. "Well I'll do it for you but only if you get me more-"

"Snacks?" Naruto interrupted.

"Smokes"

"Smokes!?" Naruto called out. "You know how big your smokes are?" he pointed towards the cigarette that was as large as a tree."Besides I can't even buy them yet" He sighed.

"Fine-I'll help you but you owe me later when you're old enough!"Gamakichi reasoned.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Now I can finally train with Hinata-chan!"

"Oh! You got a girlfriend eh!"Gamakichi teased.

"Shut up!" Naruto retaliated. His cheeks reddened from embarrassment

"Oh so you wanted to do some _special_ training with her huh?" Gamakichi teased once again. "I heard from pop that your pa did a lot of that with your ma" He repeatedly raised his eyebrows in a suggesting manner. It completely went over the head of Naruto.

"Huh? My parents did a lot of what we were going to do?" He smiled happily. Gamakichi stared in disbelief that his teasing didn't get the reaction he wanted. 'He really is that stupid...' The large toad thought. "Anyways I want make sure she's comfortable so let's try it out that thing" Gamakichi complied and opened his mouth for him to step in. When Naruto got closer, he had the horrible stench of smoking on his clothes. "Geez I forgot how horrible smoking stinks Gamakichi!" as he gagged, He felt a his tongue slip around to grab him. "What are you doing?!"

"You ungrateful snot!" Gamakichi yelled as he threw him away towards the nearby river. "Have a bath!" He yelled as he dispersed. After some recovering Naruto once again summoned another toad. Tired of finding someone he summoned Gamaken and the toad quickly agreed. Much to Naruto's relief, he quickly went inside the mouth of the toad. The smell wasn't pleasant but it was at least bearable. Naruto decided he would cover her up so she wouldn't smell the belly of a toad. His feet got a bit sticky from saliva, Hinata wouldn't like that all, being a girl and all. Finally finished he went to go change and returned to wait for Hinata.

Flashback end

* * *

Hinata held onto his cloak, he walked ever so close to her. She felt her knees wobble, and her breathing quicken. He stood beside her reaching out to her and Hinata's face had a faint rose tint, but it considerably deepened when she was picked up bridal-style. _'His arms... They feel so...strong'._ She draped herself with the cloak she was given, hiding so that he didn't see her reactions. She felt so woozy and glad she was being carried by him. She was taking big calming breaths to slow her beating heart at the intimate contact. "No byakugan Hinata-chan" He said playfully. She could imagine the sparkle he had in his eyes.

She took in his scent but it smelled a bit different, It had his masculine odor along with something else she couldn't identify. _'...Like...a mountain breeze..'_ It was difficult to pinpoint the various aromas. "Alright Gamaken! let's go y'know!" Hinata heard him shout out loud, she wondered how long she would be carried by him. She didn't mind if she would be in this position for the better hour. She couldn't describe the feeling of being carried by him. She felt...More than safe, she felt like no matter the danger she would be protected in his embrace. She suddenly felt exhausted in his arms she got more comfortable, trying to get the most of it. "Alright we're here!" He yelled out.

"What!?" She said in surprise. Pouting at the sudden shortness of being carried, she reluctantly let go of him and stood up on her own. The cloak still covered her eyes, but she could certainly smell she was in a different place except she was only carried by him for a few minutes. She felt the fabric being thrown off her.

"Welcome to Mount Myoboku!" Naruto called out to her, His hand displayed exaggeratedly. Hinata gasped at their sudden destination. Various giant toads lied down lazily atop giant leaves, Large mushroom sprouted from out the ground. Various colors of green filled her vision, She noticed it sort of smelled like his new coat.

"It's beautiful..." She stared in awe at the scenery before her, but the smile that Naruto shared with her completely overtook it. She shyly looked away from his smile.

"This is where we are going train from now on Y'know!" He proclaimed. Hinata smiled that they finally have a place to spend their time alone. There was something she was meaning to ask.

"Umm- Naruto-kun?"He looked in her direction curious to what she had to say. She played with her fingers as to hope she wouldn't sound like she was being incapable. "I-I don't want be rude b-but" She took a deep breath and he waited patiently for her to finish. "But w-why did you w-want to t-train t-together?"

Naruto looked thoughtfully at her before replying "Well one thing is the promise we made to each y'know" He looked towards the horizon of Mt. Myoboku. "Another is that your just like me in some important ways..." He spoke softly. "...So let's get training!" He yelled out, he mentioned to Hinata to follow.

"H-Hai!" She smiled, happy that she shared traits in him as she followed him. Where it was she didn't care in the least, as long as she was with him.

* * *

Naruto lied down on the grass, he felt the warm sun baring down on him. He let out a content sigh and peeked to his right to see Hinata staring at the clouds. He felt the hundreds of clones memories integrate with his, gaining their experience. He quickly sat up and gathered a flat stone to try the jutsu once again. He felt the tip of his finger heat as he did the jutsu, it was a bit uncomfortable but not painful in the least. He carved his name on the stone. "Okay! I mastered the 'Finger carving seal" He said happily, he heard Hinata congratulate him. "Thanks Hinata-chan!"

Naruto lied back down, he looked upon the floating white clouds in the sky. A smooth breeze flew by him, it made him feel more refreshed. He looked at the midnight haired girl beside him, She had a content look on her face as she looked at the clouds, blissfully unaware of his gaze. _'...Do I really deserve her..._'. He certainly felt different around her, No matter the probing he did , he could not find the specific reason as to how or why. His growling stomach shook him out of his thoughts. He decided to put his thinking away for later to satisfy his current needs. "Man I'm starving, how about you Hinata-chan?" He quickly stood up.

"Umm, Hai" She replied back to him, standing up with him.

"Then how-"

"Naruto-boy I thought you were going to introduce us" Hinata heard a voice call from behind her, Hinata heard a 'I forgot' from Naruto but when she turned around she saw no one. "Down here girlie " Hinata looked down to see a small green toad with a small cloak and with Mohawk styled hair. "My name is Fukasaku, sensei to Naruto-boy here"

_"Naruto-kun_ has a toad as a sensei?'. She thought. She hid her surprise and remembered her manners. She bowed politely, "H-Hello, Fukasaku-sama...umm- My name is Hinata Hyuuga" She replied. The small toad nodded in approval.

"Naruto-boy why didn't you tell us it was a nice girl you were bringing?" Fukasaku asked.

"I don't know, I didn't think it was important"

"Oh really? Is she your girlfriend?" He asked. Hinata turned away from the conversation to hide her reaction.

"What the?! Why does that happen everywhere we go" Naruto yelled.

"Sure, Sure whatever" Fukasaku said after seeing their flustered states. _'Well he didn't deny it...'_ Fukasaku chuckled once again. "Maybe it's the way you two look at each other" Fukasaku added. He saw the girl sway slightly from his comment. Naruto had a confused look on his face. "Any way girlie" The byakugan bearing girl turned towards him. "Ma wants to invite you two for some dinner"

"Umm-Yes of course Fukasaku-sama, I'd be honored too" She bowed politely once more, Fukasaku chuckled once more and scampered off once again. Hinata watched him bounce away before turning to face Naruto.

"Naruto-kun?" She asked. She saw his shocked expression , she would have swore she saw a betrayed look in his eyes.

"How could you?..." He asked lowly, He exaggeratedly brought his knees down. Hinata was surprised at his question. He sounded hurt, along with another emotion.

"Umm-I don't understand Na-Naruto-kun..." She answered, she started to feel anxious as to why he suddenly acting this way. She tried desperately to search as to why he almost sounded disappointed in her. _'Wa-Was it something I said...'._

"We're going to have to eat her cooking now Hinata-chan..." He clarified. Hinata felt a large wave of relief rushing over her.

"Umm- It can't be that bad Naruto-kun..." She said. _'It really can't be...right?'_ She thought to herself.

"Heheh...I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at what you got ourselves into" He chuckled some more. Hinata was still confused as to why. _'It really can't be...that bad...'_ She thought a bit more unconfidently. He laughed loudly once more, a few tears going down his face. Hinata gulped and Naruto stood back up and grabbed a hold of her hand. "Come one I'll show you where it is..." He said. Hinata decided it didn't matter anymore once she felt his hand with hers.

* * *

Hinata regretted it. She truly did. Both hands clutched her upset stomach as she walked back into the Hyuuga compound. For once in her life, she despised Naruto. Except it was fairly petty, he did not tell her of the horrors of she got them into. Hinata was a proper girl, a Hyuuga. She could not just refuse a invitation to eat. Nor could she refuse to eat...bugs and beetles and the sort. Thinking about it brought the taste that was still present in her mouth. Her Naruto had rolled over in pain after laughing so hard at her reactions throughout the dinner.

She was a Hyuuga, and she was Hinata. A proper and kind young woman. When she was offered a plateful of larvae happily by a smiling toad by the name of Shima, she almost decided to forego her kindness to get the hell out of there. Almost. So she forced herself to eat one, She was a proper kind girl. Her respectable demeanor almost went down the drain when she nearly hurled out her dinner. She was able to beat it down, as to not greatly embarrass herself in front of her crush. Though said person complimented her on her will to not barf, as he said he had been less delicate. That was the only good thing to come out of the dinner, Naruto complimenting her.

"Big sister?" She turned around to see her 11 year old sister Hanabi, who was still in the ninja academy.

"Yes, Little sister?" She asked, wondering what she needed.

"Why are you clutching your stomach like that?" She asked.

"Oh just-"

"You're not pregnant are you, big sister?" She asked.

"W-What?!" She quickly stood up and stammered back. It was a mistake as the sudden movement nearly caused some vomit to nearly escape from her. She got into control of herself before she did, her face copied the color of a tomato at Hanabi's earlier comment.

"Is it with that Naruto-sama I hear you're with all the time?" Hanabi asked._ 'carrying Naruto-kun's child...'_ Hinata was very dangerously close to losing consciousness. At what needed to be done for it to happen.

"N-n-n-no...I'm not pr-pr-preg-pregnant" She took some very deep breaths and thought about eating some cinnamon rolls to calm herself down. After a few long moments of resting her heart, she finally replied. "I just had some...Some very unpleasant dinner to eat"

"Oh" Hanabi simply said. "Did he try and cook you something?" Hinata thought about how good a cook Naruto was. She didn't know, but she was glad she was getting to know him better every day. With everything more she found out about him it just made her fall in love with him all over again.

"No...Both of us had something very unpleasant to eat that's all...I don't want to talk about it now" She replied. Hanabi nodded in understanding and after a quick good-bye she scampered off. Hinata slowly made her way towards her room. Lying down, she didn't think she could handle the sight of bugs for a while. She was horrorstruck when she remembered one of her teammates, a bug user. She didn't think she could ever look at Shino the same again without being reminded of the taste of bugs. Hinata decided to always bring something for Naruto and her eat, both lunch and dinner for them to eat together. Hinata fell asleep thinking of Naruto feasting upon her food with a smiling face and- with little help from Hanabi's earlier comment- a child with blond hair and white eyes joining him.

* * *

Kushina

Toads

"No way Minato!" She yelled. They stood arguing in the comfort of their home, it only started when Minato had asked a particular question once again.

"You're being entirely unreasonable Kushina" He argued. He should know better than to try and convert her to something she opposed.

"You're the one who keeps bugging me y'know"

"Okay...How about you tell me why you won't sign the toad summon contract?" He asked once more.

"Why?...One thing is I don't like toads, another thing how you shared a drink with Gamabunta"

"That was just one time, and how was I supposed to know that 'drink' was a giant tub of sake" He said to her.

"Well one thing is that he's a giant toad!...I thought you were the smart one Minato"

"I said I was sorry, Besides...I did make it up to you that night didn't I?" He winked at her , Kushina looked away, knowing he was right. The red head didn't think she would forgive him, she was proved wrong while he was still drunk. He decided to continue his arguing. "What do you mean you don't like them?... We go there nearly every week Kushina" He reasoned. Kushina looked away from his eyes and blushed once again at this. 'We really do go there every week...'.

"Well yeah y'know! It's not my fault everyone keeps bothering you because you became Hokage Y'know!" She retorted.

"I'm just saying it will be so much easier if you sign it...We don't have go inside of Gamahiro or Gamaken ever again" Kushina thought about it. Except she liked having an excuse to be carried by him.

"Yeah, but what am I going use toads for if the only thing we're going to use it for is to have some place private to have sex Y'know" It brought another blush to her face but she got the reaction she shot for. He looked away and his face reddened, his hand rubbing his neck in a nervous matter.

"Uhh...You got a point there..." He said lowly. Kushina smiled at her victory, knowing what they had planned, she had to remind him.

"Besides...We're trying to raise family Y'know" She gave him a hug and he returned it a moment later. "With you being Hokage and me staying to care for him, I won't have any use for toads" She silently reveled in his lack of planning. It wasn't every day that he could be like that.

"I can't wait" Minato replied.

* * *

**A/N: I love reading reviews**

**You don't have to be critical if you like, Just a little comment of your thoughts about the chapter would suffice**

**Yes I enjoy them**


	10. Without Permission

Chapter 9 Without Permission

**A/N: Got a 100 followers for both my stories! thank you all for taking interest in my stories!**

** Heck, if you want please listen to this song on youtube while reading this chapter**

**watch?v=E1cWZMfFsw0**

* * *

"You did great Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered. Hinata felt a smile spread on her face, the destructive power of a giant rasengan was really impressive. The giant boulder lay in broken pieces before her and she felt the considerable drain on her chakra from the power of such an attack, 2 weeks of training with Naruto worked wonders on her. Yes she loved spending this much time with him, nearly the entire days was spent just training, talking and eating. Naruto pushed himself, learning more jutsu everyday with his thousands of shadow clones. Hinata exerted herself too along with him, being able to learn the Rasengan and the giant variant of the jutsu with the help of shadow clones of course. So far no one knew of how far she had come.

She turned around to walk back towards him, he sat down practicing his writing to make sure it was perfect. She smiled more, she was able to help him in his calligraphy. She wanted to thank him, she didn't think helping him with his writing wasn't enough. She approached and sat down across from him. "Thank you Na-Naruto-kun" She said quietly. Naruto looked up with those blue eyes with his, a smile spread across his face. Hinata forced herself to not look away, but she felt heat rise to her cheeks. His smile captivated her, as she stared at his lips moving, it looked promising, enticing. She could imagine his lips on hers as they melded against one another. _'It'd be a proper way to thank him'_.

"Hey Hinata-chan" He called out to her, bringing her out of her daydream. She looked up into his eyes and he had a knowing look into those blue pools of his. She bit her finger that had wandered to her mouth, and looked away from him and steadied her breathing at being caught by him. _'Did...did he know...'_ She saw a mischievous smile form on his lips, and she could only assume. _'Whe-where did that other thought come from...'._It seemed he decided to not comment on it "Anyways...I wanted to give you something" He began to dig something out of his small bag. Her curiosity overcame her embarrassment as he brought out a green book she saw numerous times. "I want you to have this" She heard him say, she still couldn't see what the book.

"Wh-What is i-it?" She was excited at being given a gift from him, no matter how insignificant it was.

"You know Pervy-sage right?" He asked. Hinata nodded knowing he was referring to Jiraiya. He noticed he sometimes gave nicknames to people he was fond of, but he also called other people like Iruka normally. "Well I wanted to give you his first book he ever wrote" He had mischievous smile.

A moment of realization came for Hinata "What?..." She gulped when she remembered what type of books Jiraiya had written. "Y-y-you w-want-" She couldn't dare finish her words. While she struggled to control her breathing, she felt her face flush deeply. Hinata saw his expression was completely serious but saw vast amusement in his eyes_. 'He wants to give me porn?!_' She felt herself becoming lightheaded. '_Doe's th-that m-me-mean?-'_ . He started to guffaw loudly at her reactions.

"You should have seen your face!" He struggled to yell out between laughing fits. Hinata got incredibly flustered from his laughing_. 'Does-does that mean he won't give me it?_' She started to teeter, threatening to pass out at her acceptance of the crude book. Meanwhile Naruto was threatening to spill tears while holding on to said book. "It's not those perverted books Hinata-chan" He stammered out.

"Wh-What?" She replied. His eyes softened and a small sad but genuine smile appeared when he peered down at the book. Her dilemma disappeared as she focused on trying to soothe him if he needed it.

"He wanted to change the world with this book y'know" He held the book in his hands. "I would love for you to have it" He spoke softly as he handed her the book. Hinata silently took it from his hands carefully to not damage it. She looked at the book and saw it titled _'The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'._ She felt the hard exterior of the book given to her. "Knowing someone like me, I'm sure you'll enjoy it" He smiled warmly at her. Hinata returned it, albeit more shyly.

She felt so grateful, she wondered how she could ever reciprocate the gesture. "Th-Thank you...I Lo-Love i-it" She bit her lip at the near slip of the tongue. "I-I'm not sure how I could Th-thank you..." She looked at the book, she desired to read the contents of it already. _'He was teasing me' _She thought happily.

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan" He smiled once more. "I mean It's a gift after all Y'know!" He nodded at his statement, He fell on his back to relax. He took a deep calming breath, happy that those horrible nightmare filled nights were slowly going away. "I really enjoy spending time with you Hinata-chan" He said to her. He suddenly became aware he said it aloud, the thought had just entered his mind. _'Oh well.'._ Hinata was initially a bit shocked, but a small but happy glowing smile appeared. She clutched the book to her chest that she was given. She was happy, happy that she loved such a wonderful person.

* * *

"Naruto?" Shikamaru called out. He was right about to pass the front gates of the Hokage mansion. Said blond turned around and his face lit up in recognition. Shikamaru could obviously see he had been sleeping well. He felt a little bit of contempt swell up as Shikamaru hadn't been, along with a few others he knew.

"What's up Shikamaru?" He called out, seeing him approach."You heading up to see Baa-chan too?" Shikamaru noticed that he was more along the lines of his regular self, Not quite there yet.

He nodded "Yeah I was about the ask the Hokage about something" There was no way he was going to tell Naruto that he going to request a mission to distract himself. Thankfully Naruto just nodded.

"Yeah I was about to do the same" They proceeded together.

"What for?" Shikamaru asked. He doubted he was going to ask for a mission.

"I finished training what I needed to learn in fuuinjutsu with Hinata-chan" Naruto stated. They entered the mansion and proceeded to walk up the stairs.

"So that's where you've been all this time" Shikamaru replied. He saw Naruto nod. "No offense Naruto but you shouldn't forget about your friends" It came out a lot more acidic than he thought it would. _'I didn't mean to get so angsty'_. He thought that the lack of sleep and nightmare filled nights contributed.

"...Yeah...Sorry..." Naruto replied lowly. Shikamaru took a peek at the reaction of the person beside him. He wore a downhearted expression and he appeared to be fighting an internal battle. _'...Shit...'_. The lazy chuunin thought to himself. _'Not like it's his fault he forgot, some of us trying to be happy...Guess I'm bitter he's doing better'_ He reasoned. He sighed over the troublesome nature of the state of everyone, including himself. He doubted saying anything would help him. They reached the front of the door leading to the Hokage's room.

"Hey Baa-chan..." As he opened the door, Shikamaru looked to see Tsunade, Shizune and with Kakashi standing in front of the desk. "Oh-Kakashi-sensei" He turned around.

"Naruto" Everyone in the room called out.

"Hey Baa-chan I finished my training" He simply stated, no excitement present in his voice. The others looked in shock at the speed of his training, the miracle of shadow clones. Tsunade was the first to recover.

"You mean you're able to complete the 4 element seal?" The Hokage asked. Naruto nodded. "But...We haven't found the jutsu scroll for it yet"

"I got my ways..." Naruto replied. He didn't feel comfortable disclosing a location of dangerous jutsus. Kurama had warned him beforehand as well. Seeing as she wasn't going to get a coherent answer, Tsunade decided to ignore it.

"Okay...Seeing as we have numerous shinobi begging for missions lately" She chuckled. Shikamaru was glad he wasn't the only one. "I was going to reopen missions, nothing really dangerous though...Since you're all here" She pointed to the three other ninja in the room. "If you want, you can immediately go to Suna to seal one of the Biju" She suggested. Shikamaru looked curiously at Naruto. _'So that's what he's been doing'._

"Sure" Naruto replied, along with the agreement from the other two in the room.

"Great, No one else then?" She hinted, Shikamaru noticed right away. _'I think she wants Naruto to bring Hinata...Guess she noticed too' _. Except to his surprise Naruto shook his head. Shikamaru was a bit curious as to why, he also was curious about the state of Naruto without Hinata. This was one of the instances he remembered that she wasn't by his side. Tsunade narrowed her eyes but nodded anyways.

"There's no need for team leader " She suggested. "Although you won't be fighting any ninja, this is delicate so consider this an S-ranked mission".

"Mission details Tsunade-sama" Shikamaru asked. The Hokage gave an annoyed looked at him.

"Anyways Naruto...Now that you surprisingly already finished your training, you will be given the task of going to the elemental nations and choosing someone that you find suitable for the biju to be sealed in" She said to him.

"You mean, I have to seal them in someone I choose?" He asked.

"Yes, the biju might be more willing to trust the person more if you were the one to select them" Tsunade clarified. "Be certain, you don't want to choose the wrong person...You don't want to lose their trust Naruto" She warned.

"Of course.." Naruto said a bit unconfidently.

"The completion of the mission depends entirely on how fast you can select a volunteer" She sighed, all this was entirely too much work."Seeing as it's early in the day you can leave in the hour" She suggested. She waved them away and the three quickly left to gather their supplies.

"Do you think Naruto will be alright" Shizune asked the Hokage. The woman in question sighed.

"We can only hope Shizune" Tsunade replied, as she stretched her legs from sitting down. "Sakura's been him avoiding him, We can only hope she doesn't say or do anything stupid" Tsunade closed her eyes. She remembered the feelings she had when Nawaki and Dan died; the sense of loss and hatred she felt afterwards. Except Sakura's cause of her loss was one of the closest people to her. _'What will she do?'_ Tsunade didn't want to think of any extreme circumstances.

"Hopefully that hyuuga girl will get him back on his feet" Shizune said, taking her out of her thoughts."Did you hear all the rumors surrounding the two of them?" Shizune asked her."I mean it's a bit shocking that the whole village is so interested in the two of them" she stated.

"He's their hero, what do you expect?" Tsunade nonchalantly replied. "There isn't much news going as far as I'm certain...Not any good ones at least"

"After all he's been through, he deserves to be happy"

"He's certainly been through a lot for someone his age" Tsunade looked out the window. The village moved quietly, some clouds blocked the sun. It wasn't the care-free and happy village she saw years ago. "Hopefully the village will get closer to normal..." She returned to her seat. "Let's get back to planning"

"Hai Tsunade-sama"

* * *

Naruto changed into a black long sleeve shirt, red uzumaki patterns on the side of his shoulder along the front of his chest. He adorned the sage coat he had been wearing since he started training. He tightened the Hitai-ate given to him by Iruka. He flung over the one-strap bag over his shoulder; filled with some ramen-cups, scrolls and any needed items for fuuinjutsu, minus the ramen. He walked out of his room and into the living room. He saw a copy of the green book that Jiraiya had written on the coffee table, he picked it up. He remembered the goal that Jiraiya had left for him to accomplish, along with Nagato and Konan. _'I...I'm not sure I could do it...' _A thought entered him. _'...But...I'll try'._

Naruto left the book where it was and saw the king and scroll that Shikamaru had left him when they played shougi. He didn't think he could ever open that scroll anytime soon, not when it belonged to him. He quickly left his apartment, he hadn't used it all lately. He mostly used it to sleep and then get out to train with Hinata. After a few minutes he quickly came by to the Hyuuga compound deciding to say goodbye before he left on his mission. He passed by the front gates with only a quick nod from the guards, they began to get used to see him entering and leaving with the heiress.

He walked down various hallways, until he realized he was lost. _'Damn I forgot where her room_ is' He realized he never went to her room without her leading the way. As he walked down hallways trying to find her room, a little girl blocked his way. He stopped in front her as she looked a bit familiar, he could only identify her as a smaller Hinata, but not quite. Her eyes were not quite as gentle, but not as stoic as the other Hyuuga's he met. She looked at him with those calculating Byakugan eyes, other than Hinata's those eyes sort of creep him out a little.

"uh- Yeah" Naruto called out. She took a moment to answer him.

"Are you going to be my big-brother soon?" She asked. Naruto was a bit puzzled by her question.

"What do you mean?" He replied.

"I mean exactly what I say, will you be my big brother since you're spending a lot of time with my big-sister?"She tried to clarify.

"Oh- So your Hinata's little sister? I wonder why she never said she had one" Naruto was wondering why she reminded him a bit about the midnight haired beauty. She stood there waiting for the rest of his answer. "Well I guess you can call me that"

"Oh- Does that mean you're going to ask-"

"Hanabi..." A man entered from behind the girl. Naruto recognized him as Hinata's father, Hiashi. "Don't involve yourself with the relationships of other unless they tell you" He said as softly as a Hyuuga could be.

"Yes father" The girl called Hanabi replied. As she stood in front her dad.

"Oh what's up old man" Naruto called him. Hiashi turned his attention to him, an eye twitching. _'I'm not that old...Is that my name to him now'_. Hiashi decided to ignore it, lest he invoke making it permanent.

"Tell me Naruto-san, did you have an idea what my youngest was hinting towards?" Hiashi asked. Curious for his reply.

"Well she wondered if she was gonna call me big brother -I said if she wanted too- I mean Konohamaru calls me that" Naruto replied.

"I see" Hiashi stated. _'It seemed my prediction was correct...He really is quite dense'_. "Hanabi" The girl turned her attention to him. "Please show our guest where your sister's room is" The girl nodded. "Farewell Naruto-san" As he walked away.

Naruto followed the one he remembered as Hanabi, she didn't say anything more. They quickly made their way to her room and Naruto put the path to his memory, he wasn't too far off as he remembered her room was near a wall. Hanabi bowed as she left him alone, and Naruto slid the door aside to enter.

"Hinata?" He called out, Taking a step inside. He noticed right away there was a sleeping form of Hinata on the bed. She lied on the bed with a relaxed expression, a slight smile on her face. Naruto saw that she had fallen asleep with the book he had given her, as she held it gently with one of her small hands. He debated quickly on whether or not to wake her up from her nap to say goodbye. She let out a content sigh and Naruto decided to let her sleep. He quickly took out a pen and paper to write down where he will be gone.

He put down the note and took a peek at her, He found it strangely satisfying to see her in such a comfortable state. Although he greatly enjoyed her company and the way she acted around him, he never saw much of this. Her hair was slightly tousled from shifting in her sleep, another content sigh escaped from her. _'...perhaps...just maybe...'_. He left the room, leaving her to sleep. He would have much preferred that he would have said a goodbye. He quickly left the compound, wandering to the large gates exiting the village. He felt annoyance at the numerous villagers asking him for autographs.

He quickly signed them with a 'Naruto Uzumaki'. He sighed as he continued on his way ignoring some fan girls. His mood wasn't improving, but it was slowly lessening as he continued on his way. _'What's wrong with me?'_ He asked himself. The girls asked him questions that he didn't bother to reply. "Please stop" he asked. Still looking forward. "I have a mission to go too" Some of the girls thankfully went way. Except there was several more girls who were convinced he was playing hard to get. One girl was trying to seduce him with some provocative clothing that he ignored, asking him to get to know him better. She exaggerated her swaying hips, and displaying cleavage that he didn't notice. His mood had considerably worsened at their antics. The same girl pressed herself against his side and he quickly shook away from her.

"Look" He started to raise his voice. He turned around to face them. "You girls ar-"He was cut off as a kunoichi came in front him. Naruto immediately recognized her as Ten Ten. Some weapons were one displayed around the side of her waist.

"Can't you see that he has to be somewhere?!"She said in a threatening manner, she shooed them away. Intimidated, the girls fled at the weapon bearing Kunoichi. "You can't bother a shinobi on a mission" She stated as the last fan girl excused herself. Ten Ten turned around to face him, Naruto saw that she had a small bandage on her chin.

"Thanks Ten Ten"

"It's no problem Naruto-san" She said. "I'll be your guard for now alright" She stated. Naruto nodded at her suggested, he could use someone to keep the girls from bothering him from walking to the exit. They walked side by side, staying a distance from each other to let others know they were just friends, comrade shinobi. "Man, those kinds of girls are annoying" she commented.

"Yeah I had to find somewhere else to train with Hinata-chan" he replied. Ten Ten saw a small smile when he had said her name, she raised her brow in interest.

"So that's where you've been" She wondered. "I think I'll talk to Hinata-san later on" She giggled. They walked in silence as Ten ten occasionally stopped the random girl from approaching. Naruto thought back to the girls before. _'I was right about to scream at them...'_. He shouldn't be feeling annoyed at them. _'I don't resent them anymore...'_. Referring to his childhood, and the training he underwent at the waterfall of youth.

"Hey Ten Ten?" He asked. She turned towards him waiting for him to continue. "How did you hurt yourself?" he asked. Trying to rid himself of his thoughts.

"Oh... I hurt myself while training that's all" She waved it away. Naruto immediately regretted asking her. As he saw the pain reflected in her eyes, red from lack of sleep. The pain of seeing the horrors of war, the death of a close comrade. A teammate. Naruto knew that she was good with weapons, she would get that if she were exhausted. _'I'm supposed to look after my friends'_ . He sighed as they continued in a awkward silence. _'How could I have ever thought that...'_. Deep inside Naruto, a fox growled. _'You piss me off Naruto'_ He thought to himself. Kurama thought that he would have learned already. _'So...You've forgotten about what your mother said...Perhaps I'll _gently_ push towards that direction'_. After reaching in sight of the gates, Naruto bid Ten Ten farewell and proceeded on his own. He approached closer and saw Shikamaru and Ino standing in front. Ino sort of had a confused look upon her face as he approached.

"Hey guys..." He said a bit unenthusiastically. The others immediately noticed his mood. _'Damn it...'_ Shikamaru thought to himself. He nodded at his arrival.

"Hey Naruto" Ino replied.

"You coming along with us?" He asked the blonde.

"Yeah-Shikamaru asked me to come along" She replied back. "Guess you guys just need to have me along" She added. Shikamaru scoffed, Ino did do better whenever she was in his presence.

"Whatever, Naruto will probably be doing all the work anyways" He said. Getting a pout from Ino, Naruto had a small smirk on his face. A small silence filled over the group. "At least we get an S-rank mission on our belt" He said. The others nodded in agreement. _'If this is how it goes the entire mission...I would have just stayed home'._ Luckily and oddly, Kakashi quickly entered the group. After a small greeting the shinobi quickly went on their way towards Suna. Kakashi lazily brought out one of his favorite books.

"Kakashi-sensei?" The one-eyed jonin looked over to her. "Tsunade-sama asked me to get the details from you guys, so what exactly are we doing anyway?" Ino asked. They continued at a slow pace, Kakashi and Naruto walked a bit in front, while the two team 10 members were behind them.

"Nothing really..."He answered.

"What do you mean? Are you telling me we're doing nothing on a S-ranked mission!?" She exclaimed.

"Yeah"

"You can't be serious..."

"Not exactly, but Naruto is the only one who can accomplish it" Kakashi said. flipping another page on Icha Icha tactics. "We're just along for the ride" he finished. Ino sighed.

"What the matter Ino?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's just I thought Hinata-san what going to be here with Naruto" She said quietly.

"Is that the reason why you came?" Shikamaru asked, She nodded. "It's my fault I think" Ino shot an accusing glare. _'All these blondies are troublesome'._ He thought. "I said something I shouldn't have...Naruto is a whole much cheerier with her around"

"He sure is "Ino agreed. It was making her a bit depressed. "Where the heck was he was for the longest time?" They continued walking.

"He was training with Hinata somewhere" he shrugged, knowing it would peak her interest.

"Ooh...Privately huh?" She smiled. "Away from those fangirls right?" Shikamaru nodded. "I could understand honestly" He looked over to her, wondering what she meant. "I mean that way he's dressed now" He saw her lick her lips. "Yumm, he's like a total badass" Shikamaru cringed at the manner.

"Geez...I don't need to know about that Ino" He shuddered. She laughed at his reactions but Shikamaru had to smile at the Kunoichi who was more herself around the blond. _'...Naruto just needs to himself for everything to be alright' _As they continued walking towards Suna.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter**

**I short of got distracted by playing Katawa Shoujo (Hanako is pretty sweet BTW)**


	11. Demons

Chapter 10 Demons

**A/N: I'm at that point where I'm like 'Shit I have to write this'. I'm not forcing myself and I still desire to write it, but I'm itching to write certain events in the story. To do that, I have to write an actual progression towards it. Shame. Rest assured that I will finish this story, probably in weekly updates at the least. **

* * *

_His feet carried him, exhaustion running through him. His lungs burned vibrant, the muscles in his legs burned. He didn't care, he had to get there as quickly as possible but the rocks and dirt prevented him. He had been separated from Sasuke after giving Sasuke a shot at him. Pushing himself even further he finally reached the top of the hill. For a moment he thought he saw Sasuke dead on the ground._

"Naruto_..."Naruto looked up from the ground and saw Sasuke. The body on the ground was Madara. He jogged forward closing the distance._

_"_Sasuke you did it!"_He didn't get a response. It was odd. He looked entirely refreshed. He wasn't suffering from any form of fatigue. The surviving uchiha looked up at him, sharingan blazing. He twirled the blade he held in his hand._

_"_So Naruto...Let me ask you_" His voice cold, uncaring. His voice demanding something, his ambitions to be filled. 'What's he planning?' Naruto asked himself. He saw as the person in he considered a brother tightly grip the hilt of his blade._

_'Will you join me?" He asked._

Naruto gasped awake, his blood flowed desperately through him. "Sasuke?" He whispered. He looked around, trying to find out where he was. He saw Shikamaru and Ino sleeping albeit a bit restless, suffering from their own personal nightmares. He looked up rising horizon, early morning. They were at the edge of before they met the desert, nearly a day away from Suna, at least with a full sprint. 'You won't be able to use it here' his words went through his mind, Shaking away his nightmare he decided to prepare breakfast for everyone else. He didn't see Kakashi anywhere. 'Probably scouting around'. Shrugging it away he brought out a small pan and food that the group shared.

The fragrance and the sizzling of the food alerted the others. Shikamaru surprisingly was up first, along with Ino, Kakashi came soon after he awoke with the smell of breakfast alerting him. Not much was said between the group, a few 'mornings' were sent out to each other. Naruto finished preparing breakfast and handed out the plates to each of them with shadow clones. The other patiently waited for him to grab his own. "Itadakimasu" He said lowly. The others joined in and began eating the food he had prepared.

"Woah this is pretty good Naruto" Commentating on the eggs she ate, the others quickly agreed. Naruto smiled, but it wasn't from the compliment. The others were surprised to see a genuine one.

"If you think this is good you should taste Hinata-chan's cooking" He replied loudly.

"So Naruto" Kakashi grabbed the attention of the blond "Where exactly...have you been" He asked.

"Mount Myoboku with Hinata-chan why?" As he ate more of his food happily. He heard some perverted giggling. He looked back at him.

"Oh...doing some _training_ huh?" He winked suggestively. Shikamaru and Ino curiously looked at this exchange, and waited expectantly for Naruto to reply.

"Yeah we did a whole lot of training "Naruto replied, eating more of his food. Kakashi was disappointed it went over his head. Although his obliviousness didn't catch on to someone

"What!? You did that with Hinata!" Ino yelled. She was flabbergasted, and honestly not all that surprised. He had said it so casually too. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, knowing how Naruto was.

"Yup, pretty much all day for the past 2 weeks" As he replied. Kakashi kept giggling at how much Ino was interested, she had widened eyes in surprise.

"Wow, everyday huh?" She asked. Naruto nodded enthusiastically, Shikamaru coughed awkwardly at her probing. "Did it feel that good to be doing it every day?" Kakashi and Shikamaru saw the curious look she had in her eye. Kakashi barely restrained his laughter and Shikamaru looked away from his absurd teammate, who didn't care in the least about their reactions. Although Shikamaru had to admit it was highly amusing.

"Yeah especially with Hinata-chan" He happily replied.

"So some of the rumors were true!" Ino loudly said. Naruto had a confused look upon him. Kakashi could hardly barely hold on to his laughter. This is where they both found out they weren't talking about the same thing.

"Rumors? What rumors?" Naruto asked the blonde. Confused and curious at what sort of rumors were going about. Kakashi, only through sheer will resisted guffawing. Shikamaru had a blush but still smirked.

"What do you think? You and Hinata were having sex" She replied. Naruto stopped midway and dropped his fork, It went dead silent for a few moments. Only the wind that carried itself through the forest made its presence known, the sound of leaves scraping against one another as the wind shook them. The deafening silence was almost too much for Kakashi to hold it longer, but when Naruto's mouth slowly gaped open along with clear shock on his face. Shikamaru snorted, breaking the silence.

"What the hell!? Are you perverted Ino?!" He yelled in shock. This caused Kakashi to bellow loudly as they fired shots at one another.

"What!? How can you say that if you done that with Hinata?!" She fired back.

"I said I was training with Hinata not having..._that_ with her" A blushed adorned his cheeks. _'No way! I'm not a pervert'._

"Then why did you say a 'yeah' to Kakashi-sensei huh?!" She replied back. Naruto had a very confused look. Which caused Ino to reconsider him. _'No way...He just can't be...No way, please don't._

"What the heck does training have to do with that?!"He finally yelled back. Ino felt redness float to her face that would rival Hinata's. She looked towards the jonin and her teammate. Both had knowing grins and chuckled at her.

"Its was interesting to see how fascinated you were there for a second Ino" Kakashi chuckled. Ino was mortified, she didn't think she would be a victim at Naruto's hopeless obliviousness. "Jiraiya-sama would truly appreciate it if you bought one of his books to satisfy your curiosity" He chuckled some more, and Shikamaru laughed along with him at seeing Ino's shocked face.

"Shut up!" Ino yelled.

* * *

Hinata knocked politely on the door a few times. She patiently waited for few long moments for it to be answered. She moved her hand to her tool pouch to feel the book Naruto had given her to make sure it was there. She had already read the book twice since there wasn't much to do in the past few days. She thought about the book, what the book conveyed, The message was crystal clear. _'Peace...Is that what Naruto-kun wants to accomplish?' _She felt it was a very ambitious thing to accomplish, more than his dream of being Hokage. She thought since his major contributions towards to war, everyone respected him and knew him_. 'I think...Naruto-kun is the only one who could do it'_. He hadn't said anything about trying to accomplish peace to her, or anyone that she knew. He had said it was his favorite book, it certainly sounded like something Naruto would try to do. She knocked once more but found out no one appeared to be home. She frowned, she wanted to see Kurenai.

She took her leave and walked down the stairs of the apartment complex, she wondered how Kurenai and her newborn child were doing. She got down the steps and sighed, she didn't know what to do anymore today. She walked a random direction down a street, Hinata wanted a big sister to confide in, to tell her of how Naruto was. Since she had spent so much time with him lately, she felt a little sad that he was sent on a mission. She found herself in a park as some kids playing took her out of her thoughts. The Hyuuga heiress decided to enjoy the day since it was such a beautiful day. She took a seat on a nearby bench and took a small wrapped package in her sweater pocket to find some cinnamon buns. _'I wonder how's he doing..._' As she took a few bites.

"Hey Hinata-san" She looked at the direction where the voice came from. She saw Ten ten walking down in her ninja attire. She had a slight mischievous smile as she sat herself down beside her. "I've been trying to catch your attention-Thinking about Naruto-san huh?" He smiled at seeing a slight blush on her.

"Hai" She replied, somewhat surprising the weapon user.

"So tell me I heard from Naruto that you two were training together" She asked. Curious for more details, Hinata nodded. "Tell all of it, there's got to be things you liked right?"

Hinata felt a bit reluctant of telling her, but she didn't want keep it inside any longer. Besides she hadn't really spent any time with her lately. "Hai" And began to tell her most of things they had done together, being taught the shadow clone along with the rasengan. Ten ten eyes widened in surprise at this but allowed her to continue. Thankfully for Hinata, Ten tens teasing were fairly mild. She told her of the toads she met, along with what she ate.

"Achk..."Ten Ten gagged. Hinata giggled at her reaction, if not for the cinnamon rolls she had eaten. She probably gagged at the memory as well. "Are you telling me you actually ate bugs!" She nodded embarrassingly.

"I almost... emptied my stomach in front of him" She replied. Ten ten laughed and shook her head.

"You really head over heels for him aren't you?" She asked. Hinata averted her eyes away from her.

"Hai" She replied. She felt slight heat rise to her cheeks. Ten ten just smiled at what she said. Hinata returned the favor, it was quite refreshing to talk to finally talk to someone. The best of all was that it was a close teammate of Neji.

* * *

Naruto ran under setting fiery sun, only the constant small breezes that flew through stopped him from sweating profusely. They had been running all day to avoid sleeping in the desert, there wasn't much said between the group. Nor was there any need too. The sand was entirely annoying to run on, especially on sand dunes as the loose sand provided little grip. Naruto ran behind Kakashi since he knew the direction where Sunagakure was, the other two followed behind him.

"We're close" Kakashi called out. Naruto shook his thoughts away as he looked ahead of his sensei. He saw a small outline of a cliff face and Naruto noticed that the dunes were getting slightly getting smaller. "Should be there in a hour or so" He added. They ran in silence while the wind picked up, shooting sand at their faces. Naruto blindly followed Kakashi while he thought back on his nightmare._ 'Why are they coming back?...'_. He looked back at Ino and Shikamaru behind him. Ino wore her chuunin vest but still had on her usual provocative clothing under it, while Shikamaru still wore the same as he always had. _'How am I supposed to help them?'._ He was disturbed by these thoughts while they ran.

"Welcome to Sunagakure!" Naruto flinched at the sudden intrusion to his contemplation. He looked up to see they were at the entrance way to Suna. The entrance was crevice in the towering cliff, along with perches for defending. Several Suna ninja were guarding on the edges of these and Naruto turned his attention towards the one who greeted him. The ninja seemed to have recognized who he was as he slightly widened his eyes. "It's an honor to meet you all" Acknowledging the four Konoha Shinobi, "Especially Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki" He bowed at the two. Ino felt slightly insulted but didn't show any outward signs of being, Shikamaru didn't care in the slightest. Naruto and Kakashi both silently looked at the man, waiting for him to get going on their mission.

"I'll gladly escort you to where the Kazekage mansion" Naruto and Kakashi both saw a gleam in his eye, full of excitement. Both members of team Kakashi got an uneasy feeling from the guy.

"I think we'll pass, I'm certain that we can find our way since we've been here before" Kakashi reasoned, Naruto nodded in agreement and approval. The man had a clear look of disappointment on his face.

"Of course" He stood to the side and the four individuals carried on their way, quickly traversing their way through the crevice.

"Good" Shikamaru said, away from the ear of the ninja who had greeted them. "I could tell he was going to be troublesome"

"Yeah, you could tell that he was going to all fanboy on you two" Ino said to the two in front. "Why's that anyway?"

"I dunno" Kakashi replied, shrugging his shoulders. Although he might of knew that reason, he just didn't want to voice it as it might have come off as pretentious. Although his laziness played a factor in it as well, he didn't care how big it played though. Naruto also gave the same reply as him.

They stopped to take in the full view of the village in its glory. With the way the sun covered the entirety of the village, it created an effect that reflected gold off of the stone and hardened sand of the village. There was a street that headed straight to the Kazekage mansion, as numerous villagers and sand shinobi dotted the district. They walked on the street to meet with the leader of their village. Due to the way they were dressed, they -unfortunately for them- stood out from other shinobi.

"Hey your Naruto Uzumaki!" A random passerby announced. It caused more people to look curiously at their new arrivals.

"And that's Kakashi Hatake!" Some civilians started to crowd the duo, not bothering with the other two.

"Oh yeah! They saved our Kazekage-sama from the Akatsuki" Naruto embarrassingly smiled, with a hand on his neck.

"They both Hotties!" A young woman yelled out.

"I heard that Uzumaki actually saved the world and Hatake played a big role" Prompting plenty of 'wows' from the crowd. Both individuals were clearly uncomfortable from their adoring fans as they were sounded by a few dozen. Others wanted autographs for rescuing their beloved leader, others eagerly questioned about their escapades and what sort of roles they played in the very recent war. Naruto felt a himself get angry, that they were so insensitive about their losses; what they had sacrificed to ensure victory. Naruto felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see his sensei.

The next thing he knew was that the background changed from a loud surrounding crowd to a more quiet secluded area. He looked around to see a street mostly bare, a simple street with significantly less people. He heard some confused and disappointed chatter several streets away as he realized that Kakashi had used a shunshin jutsu to move them away. "We'll take a different route" Kakashi said softly. Naruto saw a sorrowful look in his eye, he too was still suffering from the effects of war. "I'm sure the others will find their way"

"Right..."Naruto looked away from his gaze and towards the near-empty street. Both silently made their way towards where the mansion was. They both walked, trying to resolve their anger and sorrow caused from the people. _'They don't know the pain...but it's not their fault..._' He sighed in resignation and took a quick look at his surroundings. Seeing nothing but tiny sand tornadoes he turned back forward. He wanted to ask Kakashi something before a couple appeared from in front, cutting off his attempts to talk. Once they passed Naruto decided he'd asked later on when they were in a more private area. He took little care in his surroundings as they silently made it inside the mansion several minutes later.

Making their way up some stairs and down some walls they reached the entrance of the Kazekage's office. Opening the door himself, he immediately saw the fellow forms of Ino and Shikamaru. Gaara stood behind the desk in white robes and looking out the window, he was dressed clearly for comfort. The Kazekage hat sat on the large desk along with piles of paperwork that were neatly organized . Small windows ran face height along the room, some decorations at about; such as flowers, small desks and large picture frames of previous Kazekages. The room wasn't as glorious as the Hokage's, since the building was mostly made out of dull reddish stones. Contrasting the vibrant colors of the Hokage's office, it didn't have the near extravagance as it did compared to the Hokage's.

"Naruto" Gaara called out turning to face his guests.. The blonde and shadow user turned around to see Naruto joining them, along with Kakashi. Gaara calmly walked around the desk and made his way towards him.

"What's up Gaara?" Naruto had slight smile appear on him. Gaara now stood in front of him, his hand held half way. Which Naruto finished with a handshake, which a small smirk made its way on Gaara.

"It's good to see you again" He replied. As he shook the hand of his first friend. "It's good to see all you as well" As he reminded himself who he was. He nodded towards the other shinobi in the room.

"How you dealing with Shukaku?" Naruto asked. Gaara made his way back to take his seat behind the desk.

"He doesn't give me anymore nightmares at the least" He replied. Naruto had small amused grin that Gaara shared. He took a brief look over the other Konoha Shinobi, they looked a bit worn from their journey. Evident from the grime they accumulated and some worn out faces in exception of Naruto. "We'll begin tomorrow...It's late in the day and you need to rest" He suggested to the others. He saw a visible look on relief on the on the male chuunin. "I'll have someone escort you to our most luxurious hotel" Gaara added. Prompting a look of relief and anticipation in the blonde. "She's waiting outside"

* * *

"No matter what happens Sasuke..."_Naruto felt the slashed Hitai-ate in his hand, he felt alongside the groove across the it. _"I'll always consider you a comrade of Konoha"_ Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. The last Uchiha stared impassively at him as he tossed the Hitai-ate towards the figure. He easily caught it out of the air without looking away from their stare down. _"More importantly... I consider you a brother..."_ He briefly inspected what he held in his hand, a slight smirk appeared on the lone sharingan user's face. He allowed a brief moment of nostalgia wash over him._

_"_Your cause is worthy...Naruto"_ He said to him. "_Perhaps I've always considered you a friend...One of my only friends"_ He said lowly. Naruto stared wide eyed at him, he felt his breathing quicken. A small breeze lifted the loose dirt and hit their feet._

"Then why?!...Why are we doing this!?"_ Naruto asked desperately. Sasuke tightened the hitai-ate, making sure it was snug. _"I told you! I'll take all your hatred"

"This isn't about that anymore...This is far more important"_ Sasuke said calmly. He got ready into a stance, ready for a fight. His blade starting to spark with lightning as he held it behind him._

"If we fight...We'll both die here..."_ They stared at each other in total silence. Unmoving as they waited for the other to react. Naruto saw the three tombs in his sharingan wheel into his Mangekyo sharingan. Naruto felt a tear come down on his cheek, he didn't want it to come to this._

Naruto opened his eyes to find he was staring at the dark ceiling of his hotel room. He breathed in deeply, he felt his body sweating from the nightmare. _'No...It really happened...'_ He sat up at the edge of the bed, and wiped the sweat and tears off his brow and cheeks. He looked at his alarm that it was close to 3 am. He felt wide awake and it was clear to him he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon. He tried to control his labored breathing as he looked around the room. Except his heart didn't seem to settle in the long minutes of trying, the surrounding walls seemed to be restricting him and drawing in closer. Quickly getting up he walked out the his hotel room without his sandals. Looking down a hallway, he found a sign where the stairs led to the roof. He tried not to panic as he basically ran up the stairs, nearly tripping several times. He felt like he couldn't breathe anymore as he saw the exit to the roof.

He slammed it opened, and it hit loudly against the wall. He gasped for air and the cold air of the desert filled his lungs. It woke him as the open space and cold air felt entirely refreshing to him. He took several minutes breathing deeply as he looked at stars in the sky, the bright full moon shone in the sky. _'I hope she's doing better than I am...'_ He walked to boundary of the roof and sat on the edge that towered over several buildings. He sat there, while he calmed himself but the nightmares kept returning. He thought about how long he'll have to be here, as much as he wanted to help the Biju along with seeing Gaara again. He wanted to return to Konoha_. 'Do I...Miss-'_

"Naruto..." He heard Kakashi from behind him, he seemed to be at the entrance to the roof. His tone was a curious, but also careful and questioning. Like he wanted to come talk but was asking permission.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei..."He said softly, loud enough to be heard. Taking it as an invitation, Kakashi quietly strode over to where his student was. He took a seat beside him and saw a disturbed look in his eye. He looked at over at Suna, it was mostly darkened but several lights appeared through windows of the various buildings. It seemed Suna lack proper lighting for the streets. He waited patiently for Naruto to talk, if he needed it. They sat quietly together while they looked at the village they were sent too. Kakashi had to admit, it was a different experience when they weren't on an urgent mission. "Will it ever go away?" Kakashi heard him say vaguely. He knew what he had meant.

"It can only lessen..."He looked at the town. "I know how you feel Naruto..." Looking at his student, he saw a an accusing glare. He didn't yell it out, waiting for him to continue. "Back then, I had a best friend... She was kidnapped and made a jinchuuriki set to destroy Konoha..."His eyes glazed over at the memory. He never was one to tell his past. Naruto looked silently in interest, gleaming into who Kakashi was other than a sensei. "She wanted to protect to village from herself...I needed to keep to what I promised to Obito... We were surrounded but I needed to protect Rin, even if it killed me " He said angrily at himself, a few moments passed before he was able to calm himself and Kakashi wondered what the outcome would be if he was able to

"What happened?" he asked. Another moment of silence passed by.

"...I was going to protect her... but she got in front of my own jutsu" Naruto looked away from his sorrowful eye. No doubt it was difficult for Kakashi to tell him this, Naruto was thankful for this.

"Who was she as a person?"Naruto asked. A smile was outlined on his mask, he could only assume that was sad.

"She was a kind, devoted...And had the Will of Fire that few people could ever beat..." Kakashi stood up from the edge and started to walk back inside. He took another brief look at the sky before sighing, Naruto looked to his side watching him walk.. "One of them is you Naruto..." Before he ventured inside.

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**A/N: Please review, It tremendously helps my motivation**


	12. Runaway

Chapter 11 Runaway

**A/N: Let's see... I'm probably about... one third of the way done with this story, but perhaps half way as well, I have some events planned, but I'm not entirely sure how long they will be . Anyways this was one part I wanted to do. Which is unfortunately short because it felt too awkward to have others parts of the story in it.**

* * *

Hinata whimpered as she sat up on her bed, she felt numerous tears fall down her cheeks. The irritating tears unnoticeable to her as her vision danced around the room to look for danger. Her heart beating furiously as she attempted to resist the urge to scream, only when she bit down on lip hard enough for it to bleed was enough to subdue it. She activated her Byakugan to find the warm bright flame that belonged to Naruto. Only to find nothing. "No" She said breathlessly. Her breathing started to labor, panic starting to set in. "Please no ..." She whimpered out as she turned on the lamp that was set up on a desk beside her bed. The desk was empty, no trace of the book present. "It can't be" She choked out. Her mind started to jump around in panic, she needed a reassurance. Something that would tell her that he was alive and well. Something that would remind her that none of the time they had spent together was just a figment of her imagination. A lie, that she conjured up herself to escape the reality that he was dead. Gone.

"Please No!" She cried out. She quickly stood up and looked around for the book, the book she was given by him. Her room was tidy and she cursed as she couldn't find it. She knocked several items off a stand in her desperation to find it. She quickly opened up the drawers and loudly slammed it when she couldn't find it. A few choked sobs escaped from her, some tears clouded her vision. Dying hope filled her as she walked over to her bed and tore away the sheets and blankets. Nothing, hopelessness rushed in as her fleeting hope gave way. "Naruto" She cried out. She crumpled to the floor and her barely restrained sobs ran free. "I loved you" She struggled to say through her tightened throat. Overwhelming despair filled her as she tore into her hair. She could feel herself tremble uncontrollably.

"It's beautiful long" She heard an echo, it temporarily made her froze. _'Was it all a dream?...'_ Before more tears started to spill to the floor. She started to doubt everything, the many things that had done together since the war ended. The way his hand was held around hers, the way he would smile at her and how her heart would flutter when he did. She continued to cry as she thought the lie she lived in, one that she convinced herself to live in._ 'Is it really a lie?...'_ A small spark of hope filled her. Something that she was reluctant to test, she didn't want hope to find its way to her again, only for it to completely crush right before her eyes. Except that nagging feeling kept pestering her to try, to go for the smallest light. It didn't want to let up, no matter how hard she tried to push it down. She kneeled down on the floor in defeat, tears continuously falling down but she had no intention of stopping them. _'I don't...'_ She a painful lump in her throat. She harshly closed her eyes in denial.

* * *

Naruto sighed and turned to his side. Turning to look outside the window, darkness was all he saw, along with some lights from the village. He hadn't slept, nor desired too. He feared the recurring nightmares, along with...certain ones. _'I wonder if Hinata is doing okay...'_ He felt a half smile on his face. There was always something about Hinata, it was the only reason he was able to remember her name back then. In the academy days, whenever he looked at her direction she would turn red and look away. It was weird back then to say the least. _'Always quiet too...'._ What really made him remember her name was that he saw pain, loneliness and suffering in her lavender tinted eyes. Which had confused him because she had a family. In his distorted view of family, family was supposed to care and love each other. There wasn't supposed to be any of those emotions similar to his. It was only until he became a ninja was that found out his view of families weren't always like how he viewed it. When Haku had told him of his past was when reality set in for him.

It wasn't only until the chuunin exams was that he really got her. The pain he saw in her eyes was caused by her own family. She wasn't good enough by their standards, and she wasn't able to satisfy them no matter how hard she tried. It was the first time that he heard that she shared his nindo and he promised to himself that he would win against the genius who had brought her down. He thought sorrowfully for a moment about Neji and continued on his thinking. He didn't think he would win against him, but somehow Hinata had brought him out of his state. He remembered something he had said at the memory. _'I said she was weird and gloomy'._ Except... He liked people like her. She had the strength he had admired. She was kind to everyone. She shared his nindo, and she never gave up.

* * *

Hinata found herself standing in nothingness. Blackness was all she saw in front of her, she didn't really care where she was. She felt something grasp her left hand, something...warm...safe. She looked to her left to find the one she loved. "Naruto..." She breathed out. She remembered the events of that day, when Neji had died right before her eyes. When Naruto had began to lose faith in himself. She tightened the hold between their hand, not wanting to let go. A slight smile grew on his lips, directed at her. His fiery cerulean eyes filled with life, full of determination. He tightened the hold that connected them, and she gave him a sorrowful smile.

'It's thanks to you that you stayed at my side" She heard him say. His voice crystal clear wherever she stood in. It was perfect as she remembered it. Full of ambition, full of unrelenting belief in himself.

"I don't want you to go" She whispered to him. She paid no attention to what he said after, afraid that whatever he said wouldn't be the same. **_'I never go back on my word!_**' She heard of echo of Naruto. She found herself in her room once again, lying down on her side. Her little spark of hope just waiting for her to come. She just had to hope, she sat up crossed legged. She felt her tears still spilling down her cheeks, she ignored it. She made a hand sign. A cross. "S-Shadow clone Jutsu" She struggled to say. A clone of her popped out. A jutsu that she was taught by Naruto, it wasn't enough for her._ 'Rotation...power...stability...'_ She repeated like mantra. She denied that she was taught this, that she only learned this through observation. Still...A flicker of doubt was present about that, she hoped for dear life that it was taught to her by him. Hesitantly, she brought her shaking arm up, her palm facing upwards. Her clone hovered over her hands with hers, waiting to start.

Suddenly, she found herself looking at a blue spiraling sphere. It's blue glow reflected in the room. She stared breathlessly at it, her tears halting. She felt a small smile tug on her lips. She looked lovingly at the technique she was taught by Naruto, a gift she was given by him, something that could never be lost. She felt her mind clear, doubts about him disappearing forever washed away.

* * *

_'She shares my nindo..._' Naruto closed his eyes. He didn't quite figure her out entirely during the chuunin exams. He imagined those eyes of hers, white eyes with a slight tint of lavender, the way she looked at him. It had confused him before at what he saw in them. Something he didn't recognize or didn't want to admit, love. He took a deep calming breath to settle his nerves at a memory, the memory of her confession. The first time she had nearly died for him. It was at that point that he had figured her out, the way she blushed around him or shyly looked away. He resolved himself to figure out what he felt. When she came in front of him to shield him-

" No I can't..." He breathed out. He avoided thinking any further. He loathed thinking about the past, he hated it. All there was for him was just negative emotions, a painful history. History of his failures, of his broken promises_. 'I promised myself, I promised Sakura, I promised Itachi...I made a promise to him...'_ Several more filled his head. He felt his heart accelerating. He breathed in deeply, struggling not to pull out his hair.

"I couldn't keep any of them" With a strained voice." Why...Why couldn't...I couldn't keep my word to them..." He looked despairingly at the ceiling in his hotel room. He closed his eyes in defeat.

"I can't do anything right..."

* * *

Hinata didn't know how much time had passed since she focused on looking at the blue rasengan she caressed in her hands. She felt her eyelids get heavy once again and she resigned to sleeping instead of fighting it off. The rasengan dissipated, it's glow disappearing. She had tried once before, but the feeling of dread kept returning unless she had a constant reminder of him. Exhaustion quickly came to her, but so did that feeling of hopelessness. With a clearer mind, she made a shadow clone and created a rasengan once again. Still sitting down, she brought her knees together, her chin resting on a knee. She stared at the sphere of condensed chakra in her right palm as she sent the shadow clone to look for her book. Some time passed once more as a book got in her view. The chakra in her hand disappeared once more as he quickly snatched the book.

The clone disappeared, memories of finding it over under her bed and against the wall filled her. It concerned her not, since she now held it in her hands. She stood up and walked over to her bed to sit down, the bed lamp was still on. She opened the front cover of '_The Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi'_ and a note that was present in it fell out. The midnight haired teen gently picked it off her lap. Carefully, she unfolded the piece of paper and found the elegant handwriting of Naruto that she had read many times before.

_Hinata_

_I'll be going on a mission_

_I came to say goodbye, but I saw that you fell asleep._

_I hope I could come back soon, Because I enjoyed spending time with you_

_I'll miss you, Especially your cooking!_

_'I'll miss you'_ She repeated in her head. A smile on her face. She clutched the book and note in her hands. _'I hope you're doing okay Naruto-kun...come back soon...'_

* * *

Naruto felt his mouth move but the words he wanted to say wouldn't come out. He wanted to move but his limbs disobeyed his orders. He couldn't move an inch, it was like he chained to the ground. A black abyss surrounded him as Hinata stood protectively in front of him. He remembered this moment all too well._ 'Stop!'_ He tried to yell out, no sound coming from his lips. He looked into her eyes to try and plead to her. _'Hinata please don't...'_ He choked out. He looked at her, into her eyes. A sad smile on her face, eyes...filled with love and regret. He knew...knew that Neji would not be there. He saw a tears trail down her pale face.

"I love you" She said softly to him. He felt something wet fall down his eyes, he closed to not see the next thing.

"I...I-" He heard a sickening sound.

He gasped for air as he bolted upward. He quickly looked to around the dark room. "Hinata?" He called out."I guess...I guess I fell asleep..." He saw a light source from outside the window to see the some of the buildings. "I'm still...In Suna..."He breathed out. He felt the his blood flow desperately through his veins and his hammering heart._ 'It was just a dream...'_ He told himself. _'A terrible horrible dream'._ He felt a dreaded feeling in his stomach, he didn't feel himself, he felt hollow. "I hate this..." As he remembered the events that transpired in his dream. He tried to ignore the worry in his gut, the guilt that plagued him.

He had been working with Gaara to try and find a partner for the tailed beast, and yet he could not find anybody. There was no progress made. It made him frustrated, being a diplomat, being responsible for trying to help the biju. Doubts filled his head as his mind bounced everywhere. _'How do I feel? How can I help them? Is she okay? How can I do this?_ His thoughts spiraled chaotically in a jumbled mess. He groaned in frustration at his doubts, doubts that he could actually accomplish the task he set himself to do, tasks he was bestowed and left to complete by the people he cared about. "I don't know..." He felt himself breathing deeply once more.

"I have to know if she's ok!" Once his thoughts returned to Hinata, that was something he could do right now. He quickly turned on the lamp on the desk beside his bed. He dug into his bag that was beside the desk, pulling out a empty scroll as well as ink and his calligraphy pen. He quickly wrote whatever, anything, he hardly knew what he wrote as the pen just basically wrote by itself. He felt exhaustion run its course through him as he wrote it down, relieving him as it was going to be seen by her. He felt weight roll off from his shoulders as he completed _'She's okay...She's okay...'_ . He bit down his thumb and tiredly did a few hand signs. "Summoning jutsu" As he faced his palm downwards on a his bed. A tiny red toad with his orange scarf appeared from out of the smoke.

"Gamafu" He said commandingly, before he go off on one of his excited babbling. The toad stood at apt attention. He gave the scroll to him, which he quickly tied unto his back with the help of his scarf. "Take this to Hinata Hyuuga in Konohagakure" The small frog saluted. "If she wants to write something back, let her"

"Yes, Naruto-sama!" The frog said loudly. It irritated Naruto at how loud he was.

"How long can you get there?" Naruto asked sternly.

"Depends on where I am Naru-"

"Sunagakure" The toad gulped. '_The desert...'_

"2 days" Naruto nodded, he turned to and walked over to a window and opened it. The scarf bearing toad followed quickly, the scroll on its back tightly secured around him. The toad jumped onto the round window sill and saluted once more. "I won't let you down Naruto-sama" and hopped away, sticking to the walls as he descended down the several stories of the hotel. _'Now I just need to wait...'_ He dragged his feet to his bed and dropped himself down on the bed. He felt his eyelids become impossibly heavy. _'...For so long...'._

* * *

Training days

"Huh?" Naruto said questioningly.

"Umm... I want to see your s-senjutsu.."Hinata replied timidly. They sat in large clearing, they had just finished their lunch and now they relaxed in others company before they resumed training. Hinata thought it was a perfect time for her to ask. She had spent the last week spending time training with him, which every moment she had enjoyed.

"Sure! No problem" He replied. _'That was...easy'_ Hinata thought to herself. He got into a lotus position and he went eerily quiet for a few moments. It made her feel uncomfortable, especially since how loud he usually was or how much he moved.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Shh...I need to concentrate" He replied softly. He sounded almost serenely. She nodded, not that he could see, since his eyes were closed. She quietly activated her Byakugan and stared in amazement once more. He stayed completely still as some foreign chakra seemed to collect around him, melding with his own. After another moment some orange pigment appeared around his eyes. He seemed to be at peace as he opened his to reveal golden pupils, with black horizontal slits. Hinata stared in shock at the unfamiliar look. _'He's still so handsome...'_ Hinata felt like he had an exotic aura around him. It made her breathing quicken when he turned to look at her. Despite the blueness of his eye's that had dissipated, he still carried a look of determination within them. "This is sage mode" He replied quietly.

"W-What does it d-do" She stammered.

"A whole lot of cool things" He replied calmly. "Like I could feel chakra all around me...Like yours"

"S-so like a s-sensory ninja?" He nodded.

" Yeah...Your chakra feels...really relaxing..." He breathed out. "Better than natural energy..." Hinata felt her cheeks heat at the compliment. Her curiosity got the better of her.

"Natural energy?"

"Yeah...It feels..." He closed his eyes. "Like you can feel every scrap of dirt beneath your feet...The birds that take joy as they fly in the sky, the small creatures burrowing into the ground, the texture of grass between your fingers and each direction the wind changes" He took a calming breath. "Like...You apart of nature, like you're the earth yourself" Hinata was awed by his vivid explanations. _'It must be amazing...'_ He had said each word so softly, almost carefree. "Besides Natural energy really makes you feel like a badass!" He proclaimed. Slamming a fist into his palm. Hinata stared in shock for a moment.

She laughed. At the fact that he was so serene and somehow poetic at one moment, and then at another next instance returning to his usual self. A loud boisterous orange wearing ninja. He smiled widely at her at her laughs, which made her heart flutter ever so pleasantly. "H-How so?" She humored him, another giggle escaping from her.

"I'll have to show you" He stood up, and mentioned her to do the same.

"W-What's this about, N-Naruto-kun" She asked curiously, seeing him taking a few steps back. Lengthening the distance between them.

"I want you to use your 64 thingy" He replied to her.

"What?! But I might hur-"

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan" He waved dismissively " I want you to use it, you promised you would help me train right?" He smiled at her.

"... " She was deathly afraid of missing, afraid that she would hit him in the heart.

"Don't worry about it Hinata-chan" He said with a slight smile. "I'll be completely fine y'know, you won't hurt me...I promise" He promised her. "Show me how badass you are!" She blushed as the compliment. '_Badass...'_

"O...Okay" She relented. She activated her Byakugan and reluctantly got into her juuken stance."You're in range of my divination...8 trigram 64 palms" Naruto braced himself, getting into a defensive stance. "2 palms" Hinata crossed the short distance. He easily avoided them. She kept going, knowing it was the slowest strikes. "4 palms" he dodged again"8 Palms" She watched as he evaded them once more, moving his body away from her strikes as well taking careful steps backwards. "16 Palms" He chuckled, a smile of enjoyment on his face. She narrowed her brow in part frustration. _'I can't hit him...'_ He seemed to be having fun. "32 palms" With increased urgency. Her small frustration disappeared as she watched in fascination as he simply danced around her attacks. "64 palms!" This time he used his hands to help him evade all the attacks. Whenever she was about to strike, he moved his body out of the way. He would redirect her strikes with simple nudges, along with backing away . She was amazed at how fast he moved, he had a more focused look on his face as she finished her jutsu. They stood apart from each others, a quiet moment before she spoke.

"A-Amazing..." She never heard of anyone going up against the 64 palms and simply evading and redirecting the strikes. The Jutsu was incredibly fast, and he seemed to have foresaw every attack she made against him.

"My...Perception is greater, and I can sense danger faster " He explained. Closing the distance between them. " Come on I want to show you something" As he grabbed her hand, it still made her heart beat quicken whenever he did so. They exited the clearing and walked upon a trail, they made their way under some very large mushrooms, several large toads relaxing on top of them. Hinata felt like this was a paradise, the whole of Mount Myoboku had a very relaxed atmosphere._ 'It's...very private_' She blushed at the direction of her thoughts, they were the only two humans in this place. She couldn't really console her thoughts as he still had his sage mode active, a more exotic look she greatly admired. Not that she didn't enjoy his usual look, she reasoned it was that he carried a different look, but still had his ideals and the fire in his eyes. "Here we are"

Hinata looked as they arrived at the edge of a cliff, she peered down and saw a 20 meter drop. "W-what do you want show me N-Naruto-kun?" She looked curiously at him. She saw a certain twinkle in his eye, something that she could hardly recall was from.

"Do you trust me Hinata-chan?"

"Of course" She replied immediately replied. With her left hand still grasped around his right, she gasped in surprise as she was pulled closer to him. She felt her blood immediately rush to her cheeks and she looked up at him in surprise. She stood directly in front of him and his free hand rested on her waist, something intimate that Hinata greatly appreciated. Their bodies held no sort of contact, she wished she was brave enough to close the distance or for him to complete it. Her right hand was free and without knowing what to do contented herself by resting it on her left arm. The heat on her cheeks seemed to be permanent, she was so close to his lips, an inch or two of tiptoeing and her lips would be able to reach him. He had a mischievous grin on his face. _'Does he enjoy doing this to me?'_ The effect he had on her was pleasant to her with the exception of her stutters. She was sure that he ignored it for her sake, he was always nice to his friends. Mostly.

"Good" She felt him subtlety shift around. She paid no attention as she focused on looking at the golden eyes of his. "Then trust me I'll be fine" He leaned in ever so close, she could feel his hot breath going down her neck, sending shivers down her spine. She didn't think he would kiss her, not when he saw a mischievous smile on his face. She pouted when he slithered away from their contact, she was confused when she watched him disappear from her sight.

"What?" She looked in horror as he actually fell over the edge. She peered down to see a wide smirk on his face, his expression full of amusement. She looked away as he quickly approached the ground. _'He said to trust him...'_ She heard a thud, but she couldn't help but feel her heart sink a little. She immediately ran down the cliff, the fall wasn't fatal, but it sure to cause injury. He still had a wide grin as she saw him pick himself up. "Are you hurt?" She asked urgently, as he dusted himself off.

"Not even a little bit Hinata-chan, felt like a message actually" Hinata stared incredulously at him. _'H-How?'_ She reasoned that he should be at least be hurting somewhat. "That's what sage mode does" He stated to her. " It really helps you, makes you stronger, faster and a lot of things doesn't even hurt you, I mean you should've seen the look on your face"

"Oh..." She did her best to wash her worry away" Please don't do it again" She asked him. Trying her best to act like she was really hurt by his joke. He turned to look at her. "Please" she pleaded biting her lip. A very faint blush painted itself on his cheeks, hardly even noticeable to Hinata.

"O-okay...I didn't, I mean-" She giggled at him._ 'I-It worked?'_ She was surprised at herself, she felt immense joy that she had actually made him blush. "Wait! you were just messing with me weren't you!" He playfully accused. She nodded. He smiled at her, shaking his head. "Oh well, your face was still priceless" He chuckled. She pouted at him, his 'joke' wasn't really funny, her reaction was from how close she was to him and how he made his getaway.

"Y-You should've seen y-your face, you b-blushed..." She stated. Trying to get back at him.

"Y-you're just seeing things Hinata-chan" He stammered.

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**A/N: By now I hope you figured out the focus of the story.**

**Anyways, I really enjoy reading you guy's reviews**


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